The Fallen
by Cyprin
Summary: When Cerebro detects a new mutant signature in Italy, the X-Men soon find themselves meeting a teenage boy with some very unusual powers. But does this teen even want their help in learning how to control his powers? Can the X-Men really trust this teen or his strange powers? What really lies beneath the deep Darkness?
1. Chapter 1

Updated Author Note (12/1/11)

The story is set a week after The Beast of Bayville. Please enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing for everything belongs to Marvel...except my OCs...they're mine. Mwhaha...

* * *

Silence filled the empty hallways of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. The quiet halls were shrouded by the pitch black darkness. The only source of light illuminating the dark halls was the pale light of the moon; its rays glimmering through the windows. Most of the institute occupants were tucked away in their beds. All of them were fast asleep, save for one person.

A man in wheelchair moved silently down a dark blue metallic hallway. On his way, he passed a few circular shaped doors with a large bluish-gray 'x' design on them. He continued on his way, heading towards a door at the end of the hall. It was similar to the other doors, but it had a small blue sphere in the center. The wheelchair slid to a slow stop in front of it. Reaching over to panel on the doorframe, the man pressed his hand on the scanner. It scanned his hand with a low hum, the blue sphere lit up dully.

"_Welcome Professor_."

The heavy steel doors hissed opened granting him entrance. Wheeling himself inside, the steel doors slid close behind him with dull hiss. The room was a large hollow sphere, a long bridge stretched all the way to the center of hollow sphere. He moved quietly down the ramp, the only sound was the electronic hum of the motorized wheels.

He slid the wheelchair to a stop at the console at the end of the ramp. He reached out to pick a metal helmet, placing the cool metal on his head. Reaching over to the console, he typed a few commands on the keyboard. The steel doors behind him made a low locking sound, sealing the room from the inside.

"Engage Cerebro."

The lights dimmed, until the room was almost completely black. A faint electrical hum filled the hollow room. The metal panels trembled slightly. The metal room vanished in a very faint white flash before a large holographic globe appeared in its place. The globe had numerous blue dots on varies parts of the holographic globe. The man closed his eyes and concentrated his mind on the map. One by one a few of the blue dots turned red, while some disappeared off the map completely.

He slowly opened his eyes, turning his attention to the monitor built into the console. For the past few days there was minor mutant activity recorded in Rome, Italy. He typed in a few commands, bringing up a list of names.

Briefly skimming through the list of names, there weren't that many listed in this particular area. He typed out a few particular codes, limiting his search to the area around Rome. The holographic map zoomed in slowly, a single red dot was flashing faintly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Identify this mutant signature."

After a few seconds of waiting a file appeared on the monitor. It took the monitor a moment to load the file. A picture of a teenage boy appeared on the screen. He looked about 16 or 17 years old. He stood about 5'6, and had a very lean figure.

His skin was pale, and his short hair was a very pale blonde color, making it look almost white. The most unusual thing about this blonde was the color of his eyes; they were an icy blue color. He was dressed in a black private school blazer, with a black and white checkered tie, and black dress pants.

"_Scan is now complete_."

The computer pulled up a full bio of the teen, listing everything from the teen's name to his blood type. Skimming the bio briefly, the man stopped towards the end of the page.

He frowned.

_Unable to determine powers_.

With a quiet sigh, he removed the helmet placing in back on the console. Typing a few final commands the computer saved the file and shut down instantly. Backing away from the console, he turned wheelchair around then headed back down the bridge.

The doors opened as he wheeled towards them. The lights in the room dimmed, until it was once again pitch black. Passing by a few more doors, he finally stopped his wheelchair finally stopped at one particular door. It opened with a low hiss.

Wheeling himself inside, the man wheeled over to small table near the door. Various papers and books were scattered around on the table. A small box filled with a variety of different sized test tubes. He glanced towards a far corner of the room. A large blue furred simian wearing a white lab coat sat working in the corner. On top of its head, sat a worn pair of frameless reading glasses. Holding up two different test tubes in its hands, studying them in light of a table lamp.

"Hank?"

The blue furred man jumped slightly in surprise, almost dropping the test tubes. Glancing over at the man near the doorway, he offered the Professor a small smile in return. Placing the test tubes into a metal holder, Hank turned his body to face his former mentor. He moved his glasses off his head, placing it on the table behind him.

"Charles, what a pleasant surprise!" Hank greeted, suppressing a yawn. "I thought you were in bed already. What can I do for you?"

"I'm surprised you're awake as well, Hank." The Professor smiled, without missing a beat. "I was just monitoring some recent mutant activity. I've been keeping tabs on one particular signal for quite some time. Cerebro has been registering multiple minor power fluctuation occasionally over in Europe."

"What kind of fluctuations?" Hank raised an eyebrow.

Charles frowned. "I'm not sure to be honest. It might just be small power flares from this newly active mutant. But that's not why I'm here Hank."

"Is there something on your mind, Charles?"

"Normally when I use Cerebro, it should be able to give a very brief summary of a mutant's powers, regardless if their powers just manifested or not. But for some reason Cerebro hasn't been able analyze this particular mutant's powers. Something about this makes me feel...quite uneasy."

Hank brought his hand up to rub his chin, nodding his head slightly. "Perhaps it's just a minor malfunction? I'll have Forge come by later, see if we can find anything wrong with it."

"That's probably for the best." Charles agreed, with a small smile. "In the meantime, I think we should investigate this power fluctuation case as soon as possible. I'm leaving you and Ororo in charge of the Institute. I'm going to pull both Scott and Jean out of school to go with me this time."

"The situation must be serious, if you're taking them with you." Hank joked lightly.

The professor chuckled under his breath. "As they say, better safe than sorry."

(-)

Michael Soletta yawned in his chair for the fifth time in the past ten minutes. Currently he could hear his Professor ramble on about the Ancient Egyptians and how they recorded their history through Hieroglyphics. The blonde rolled his eyes, turning his gaze to the window next to him. The trees on the campus blocked the harsh sunlight from shining through the glass windows.

_What a drag_. He thought tiredly.

It had been the same mainstream routine everyday for the past few weeks. He'd go to class and listen to the teachers' drone about various subjects, saying it was to prepare them for life once they graduated or some other B.S. like that. It's not like he cared anyway.

"You see class; the Ancient Egyptians used a formal writing system that combined logographic and alphabetic elements," Professor Rosso explained, writing down a few notes on the black board. "Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood."

Michael rested his cheek on his hand, with another sigh he turned from the window back down to his history book. Here at St. Agatha's Private School for High Learning, the blonde didn't have any friends to associate himself with. There were very few people in the student body that had tried on multiple times to have him join their school activities. However, their requests fell on deaf ears, and by now they just ignored his existence.

"Scholars generally believe that Egyptian hieroglyphs came into existence a little after Sumerian script, and were possibly invented under the influence of the latter." The aged teacher moved from the blackboard to the projector, placing a worn timeline sheet on the glass monitor.

_Man, can he be anymore boring?_ The blonde snorted lightly.

Turning his gaze back to the window, he watched a pair of birds fly by before they landed on the nearest branch towards the glass. He felt an unexplained pulling feeling, as he watched them hop around on the branches. Was it the freedom to be able to go anywhere, to be free?

Now that he thought about it, the only reason he was at this school was because of his Grandfather, Salvatore. That old geezer always told him that the heir to the Soletta Household must be the best at everything, including academics. The blonde glared at his reflection on the smooth glass. Michael couldn't explain it, but there was something about the old man that always infuriated him.

"Mr. Soletta!"

The blonde teen jumped slightly in his seat, turning his gaze from the window to the side of his desk. Professor Russo glared down at the blonde, his aged textbook clutched tightly at his side.

"I'm sorry Professor Rosso. What was the question?" Michael asked, wincing at the aged Professor's scowl.

The gray haired educator rolled his eyes. Annoyed at the blonde's lack of attention, he made his way up towards the front of the class. Placing his textbook down on his dark oak desk, he turned back to look at the class as a whole.

"Honestly, Mr. Soletta! This is the third time this week that you've spaced out! How your grandfather manages to put up with you is a mystery." He snapped, almost condescendingly. "Perhaps one of your fellow classmates would be willing to repeat what I just said."

The blonde felt his fists clench at the mere mention of the wrinkled bag of bones that was his grandfather. He felt the familiar surge of anger and annoyance. The aged professor moved behind his desk, pulling his chair out to sit down.

As he moved to sit on the wheeling chair, the wheels on the chair started to glow a faint black. Then without warning the chair moved on its own, slamming against the back wall. The aged man was sent toppling down to the linoleum floor, landing hard on his backside.

"Dannazione!" He cried out angrily.

The whole room erupted in a mixed series of shocked gasps and roars of hysteric laughter. The professor reached up painfully to grab the corner of his desk as he pulled himself up, all the while muttering a series of curses under his breath.

Michael watched in silent shock as the professor tried to regain his bearings. That's when the blonde teen felt a small tingling feeling nipping at the tips of his fingers. Risking a quick glance down at his right hand, his icy blue orbs grew wide with fear.

The tips of his pale fingers were outlined in a faint onyx black glow.

_W-What the hell?_ He stared at his right hand fearfully. The blonde teen felt his breath hitch sharply in his throat, making it slightly difficult to breath. _N-no_._ Now's not the time for an anxiety attack_. _J-just take a d-deep breath_.

The blonde slowly took a few deep breaths to clear his mind. He could feel himself begin to calm down slowly. The more he did this, the easier it became for him to regulate his breathing.

Risking another glance at his right hand, he almost sighed out loud when the onyx glow had faded from his fingers. The blonde sliding his shaking hand into black blazer's side pocket.

While the blonde was busy trying to regain control of his breathing, the gray haired professor gingerly rubbed his stinging behind, shooting a scathing glare at the laughing class. With just one steely glare, the laughter quickly stifled as fifty five year old professor scowled.

"That is quite enough!" He hissed venomously.

Taking a few seconds to brush himself off, Professor Rosso reached over to firmly grab the back of his chair. Keeping a firm grip on the back of his chair, he pulled it back towards his desk before slowly taking a seat.

Gently nursing his throbbing temple with his forefingers, the fifty five year old glared one last time at the class and opened his mouth to reprimand them. However, before he could even start, the shrill ringing of the phone by the door filled the air.

"What is with all these ridiculous interruptions!?" He growled angrily. Sliding slowly out of his chair, the middle aged man trudged over to the school mandatory phone. He reached to grab hold of the phone cradle as it continued to ring shrilly.

Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he picked the phone off the switch and brought it up to his right ear.

"Room 302, Ancient History." The professor grunted. The already present scowl on the aged man's face slowly grew deeper. "I see. Do you need him in your office now or at the end of clas—I'll be sure to send him down right away."

Gently placing the phone back on its cradle, the fifty five year old turned to face the silent class. His blue gray eyes scanned the room, and locked themselves with a pair of confused ice blue eyes.

"Mr. Soletta," He said, in a calm voice. "It appears that you're wanted in the Headmaster's Office immediately. Please gather your things and go there immediately."

Michael looked at him confused, his classmates quietly muttering amongst themselves. But they were silenced by another glare from the gray haired instructor. The blonde remained frozen in his seat; this only made the fifty five year old glare harder at him.

"Well?" The aged professor snapped. "Are you just going to keep sitting there, or are you going to the Headmaster's office like I asked?"

Michael nodded numbly; his cheeks flushed a faint pink. His classmates laughed at him, the pink blush quickly turned into an unattractive shade of deep red. Quickly grabbing his books, he fast walked out the open door. Rosso closed the door behind the blonde, before whipping around to face the class silencing them with another steely glare.

"As for the rest of you!" He snapped, clearly annoyed with their laughter. "Because of your disruptive behavior today, I want a five page paper on the Holy Roman Empire on my desk by tomorrow! Single spaced, and by hand!"

The entire class groaned angrily, the aged professor walked back towards the board and resumed writing.

After making his hasty exit from his classroom, Michael stopped to catch his breath in the next hallway. He stopped by one of the many marble pillars in the hall. Leaning against the closest one, the blonde ran a shaky hand through his blonde hair taking a few deep breaths.

"O-okay, breath just b-breath." He whispered shakily.

After a few more deep breaths, his body slowly stopped shaking completely. With a small sigh, he pushed himself off the pillar then slowly made his way down the hall. He turned a corner and felt something collide into him, knocking him off balance and causing him to fall backwards. The blonde fell back onto his butt, his history book slid across the smooth floor.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you alright?" A concerned voice asked.

The blonde looked around for his History book, scrambling to pick it up. The owner of the voice offered him a hand, which he took after a moment of hesitation. Lightly brushing off his pants, the blonde looked at the person that bumped into him. It was a girl that looked a few years older than him, with long flowing fiery red hair and brilliant emerald eyes. Taking a quick glance at her clothes, he could tell she clearly wasn't a student here.

"I-I'm fine. Sorry, but I need to be somewhere." He stammered nervously. "Please, excuse me."

He moved passed her and quickly made his way down the hallway, quickly passing a tall boy with brunette hair and red sunglasses. He could feel the teen's eyes watching him before he quickly turned at the nearest corner.

The tall brunette made his way towards the red head, offering her a small smile. "So, I take you ran into our guy?"

"By ran into, you mean knocked him over by accident, then yes." The red head nodded, with a sheepish smile.

"When did you become such a klutz, Jean?" He teased lightly.

"Oh, shut it Scott! It's not like I did it on purpose." The red head snorted, in good nature.

(-)

The blonde teen made his way down a flight of stairs leading to the main office. After checking in with the secretary, he made his way towards the Headmaster's room. Staring at the dark oak door for a brief moment, Michael sighed to himself then raised a hand to knock softly on the door.

"Come in." A muffled voiced called from the other side.

The blonde took a deep breath then reached for the door knob. He twisted the brass doorknob, pushing the door open a little to poke his head inside the room. He saw the headmaster, Dr. Reid, talking animatedly with a man in an electric wheelchair. The two looked like they were in deep discussion with each other. The headmaster's eyes turned from his guest to the door where Michael's head peeked into the room, he offered the blonde a brilliant smile.

"Ah, Michael there you are! Please come inside." Dr. Reid called, waving for him to come inside. "If you could take a seat, I'd like to introduce you to an old friend of mine."

The blonde nodded nervously. Sliding inside the small office, closing the door behind. He nervously walked further inside the room, before taking a seat in an unoccupied chair. The young headmaster flashed the blonde another pearly white grin, motioning with his hand to the man in wheelchair.

"Michael, please allow me to introduce you to an old friend of mine, Professor Charles Xavier."

The man in the wheelchair turned his chair slightly to face him. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Michael." Charles offered the blonde a warm smile. "Dr. Reid has told me a lot about you."

"It's nice to meet you as well, Professor Xavier." The blonde retorted, with a nervous smile.

Charles extended his hand out for the blonde to shake, which he took with a little hesitation. The moment their hands met, Mike felt a sharp surge run through his hand. He drew his hand back sharply, as if he had been burned by something. His eyes widened with fear, the onyx black glow had returned on the tips of his fingers.

"Michael? Is something wrong?" Dr. Reid asked concerned.

The blonde jumped slightly, the onyx black glow instantly disappeared. He looked at his fingertips with a mix confusion and fear. Just what was going on? What was this onyx black glow, and why was it suddenly appearing on his finger tips?

"Michael?"

Michael snapped out of his thoughts by a concerned voice. Dr. Reid had gotten out of his chair and was now kneeling in front of him, one of his hands gently resting on his left shoulder. The young headmaster gently rubbed the teen's shoulder in a soothing manner.

"Are you alright?" He asked gently.

"Uh y-yeah. I'm fine, just felt a little dizzy is all." Mike lied, with a weak smile.

The young headmaster didn't look convinced, but let the matter slide without another word. He gave the teen a small pat on his shoulder. The young Doctor moved to sit on the front of his desk, crossing his arms in front of him.

"You're probably wondering why we've called you down here." Charles moved his arms to rest on the armrest of his wheelchair. "I wanted to meet with you, and offer you a place at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters."

_Is this guy for real?_ Mike thought in disbelief.

But the name did sound familiar, wasn't it some kind of private school in America? But why would this man come all the way out here just to extend an invitation to him. He wasn't anything special; there were clearly better candidates at this school than him.

"I take it that you don't believe that you're special enough for my school?" Charles asked, seeing the look of disbelief in the teen's eyes.

The blonde's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't said that out loud, had he? Was this guy reading his mind or something? But how was that possible? No, don't be ridiculous! There's no such thing as mind readers, he was just being paranoid for god's sake!

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm afraid that I must decline." Mike said, trying to keep his voice calm and steady. Something about this guy unnerved him. "Surely there are other students here that would be better suited for your school?"

The Professor frowned.

"Michael, you shouldn't think so little of yourself. From what Dr. Reid has told me, you are a truly gifted individual." He leaned forward his chair, offering the blonde an encouraging smile. "I only ask that you please give what I've said some thought."

"I have Professor. I'm comfortable here, really I am. But thank you for the offer." The blonde put on a false smile. Turning his gaze to the young headmaster standing in front of him patiently. "Sir, if it's alright with you, may I go back to class?"

"Of course." Dr. Reid smiled.

The blonde stood slowly, nodding his head to the professor then made his hasty retreat out the door. On his way out of the office, out of the corner of his eye, he could see the same boy he passed in hallway sitting in the office. Mike looked around the empty halls, the coast was clear so far.

Without a second thought, he quickly walked down the hall towards the academy's auditorium. Unbeknownst to him, the same red headed girl from earlier was watching him walk down the empty halls.

_What are you up to?_ She thought curiously.

_Jean?_

_What's up, Professor?_ Jean asked, looking around to see if anyone was watching her.

_I want you to follow him_._ I think he could use someone to talk to right now_.

_I'm on it_. Jean smiled, starting down the hallway.

She found the doors to auditorium a few minutes of looking. Pushing the door open enough to stick her head in, the sound of a piano filled the air. It wasn't anything fancy, but it had upbeat tone to it. Slipping inside, she took the nearest seat in the back of the auditorium. A single spotlight shined brightly on center stage where the piano was located.

Sitting on black piano bench was Michael Soletta; his pale fingers moved fluidly from one key to the other. If one looked close enough, they could see him tapping his foot as he played. If she listened hard enough, she could hear him singing faintly to himself.

"_Well, sometimes I go out by myself  
And I look across the water.  
And I think of all the things, what you're doing  
And in my head I paint a picture._

'_Cause since I've come on home  
Well, my body's been a mess_

_And I've missed your ginger hair  
And the way you like to dres-_"

The red head recognized the song instantly. This particular song had been played on the radio almost religiously. Lately, she had grown tired of hearing it whenever it came on radio. But this time seemed different. This teen seemed to bring new life to this song, and so much so that she found herself tapping her foot to his voice.

She felt her foot make contact with an old discarded water bottle, causing it to fly down the concrete steps and echo loudly in the empty auditorium. The blonde stopped playing abruptly on stage. Whipping his head to the right, the pale teen looked out at the darkened auditorium with a cold glare.

"Chi è là?" He snapped annoyed.

Sharp pain shot through his fingers, causing him let out a small cry of pain. Before he knew it, a spare stool shot off the stage and flew in the air. It flew across the room towards the back of the room.

Jean quickly raised a hand to her head, stopping the stool almost instantly. With a quick hand gesture, the stool floated into the aisle next to her seat. The blonde shot up from the piano seat before briskly walking towards the end of the stage.

"Chi è là?" He repeated louder this time.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spy on you," Jean admitted sheepishly. She moved away from her hiding spot and made her way down the aisle. "I was just wondering who was playing the piano in here."

Mike let his body relax when his mysterious onlooker came into view. "Hey, you're that girl from earlier. At least, we didn't collide into each other for a second time."

"I wanted to apologize for that, I wasn't really paying attention at the time." Jean retorted, taking a seat on a nearby band chair. "This is a pretty amazing school."

"It is." Mike agreed, trying to suppress the tremor in his voice. "Come to think it of it, judging by the way you're dressed, you don't go here do you?"

Jean nodded. "You're right, I'm here visiting. I don't think I could stand wearing a school uniform everyday, though."

"You'd get used to it eventually. Trust me if I could, I'd ditch the blazer and dress shoes."

The two chuckled together. Mike moved to sit on the edge of the stage so they could see each other eye to eye.

"Mind if I ask you something, mystery girl?" He asked, getting back to business.

"Sure, ask away. I'm Jean by the way."

He nodded his head towards the back of the auditorium. "You probably think I'm crazy for asking this, but how'd you do that back there?"

"Like you, I have a gift." Jean smiled, causing him to blush slightly. "You and I are more alike than you know Michael."

"I don't remember giving you my name." Mike raised an eyebrow in confusion. "And what do you mean a gift? I wouldn't exactly call what I just did a 'gift' per se. Whatever I just did can't be considered normal."

"Tell me what is considered 'normal' these days. There are so many different definitions for the word 'normal' that people can't tell what 'normal' is anymore." Jean chuckled, offering him a small smile. "Tell me something Mike, have you ever heard the term mutant?"

The blonde looked at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads. He tilted his head to the side at the term. Mutant? Normally, you'd hear that kind of word in a science fiction movie or something.

He thought back to last time he had seen a science fiction movie. Usually when you think of mutants, you imagine some kind of horribly disfigured creature. What did mutants have to do with this conversation?

_Well you see, unlike science fiction movies. Mutants are very real and are not horribly disfigured creatures like they're portrayed in the movies_.

The blonde let out a small cry, wildly looking around for the source of the voice. He looked back to Jean, who smiled innocently at him. He stood up abruptly, glaring at her.

"What the hell was that?" Mike demanded angrily.

"Like I said, you're not the only one with gifts." Jean smirked, pushing herself off the hard plastic chair. "My name is Jean Grey, I'm a student at the Xavier Institute and I'm a mutant."

"The Xavier Institute? I thought that was just a prep school for geniuses." The blonde stared at her in disbelief. "You're telling me that place isn't a school, but a place for mutants?"

"It's not just a place for mutants, but a school for them." The red head corrected him calmly. "And we'd like to extend an invitation to you."

The blonde looked down at his feet, refusing to meet the girl's emerald gaze. He was a mutant? A mutant. No, it couldn't be true. Could it? Before he knew it, his feet were moving of their own accord.

Before he knew it he had jumped off the stage, stumbling when his feet hit the ground as he ran towards the nearest exit. He could hear Jean calling out to him, but he ignored it. Shoving the door open, the blonde ran into the quiet hallways as the auditorium doors slamming behind him.

"Well, that worked out great." Jean frowned to herself, letting out an aggravated sigh.

(-)

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Professor?" Scott asked, turning the rental car off the highway. "I mean, you said it yourself, he turned down your offer."

In the backseat sat, Charles chuckled at his student's skepticism. The telepath turned his gaze from the window to the teen looking back at him through the rear view mirror.

"Scott, we can't always to expect someone to come with us back to the institute. There are some that would rather choose to stay where they are." Charles paused for a moment, turning to look back at the window. "Although, I don't think it would be wise for him to remain here."

Scott pulled the car to a stop at a traffic light, looking either way checking the oncoming traffic passing through the streets in front of them. He glanced back in the rear view mirror. Charles had placed his chin on his left hand, staring off with an almost glazed look. Scott knew that look; he was conversing with someone telepathically, Jean was the most likely person.

"Professor?" Scott called.

The telepath moved his gaze from the window, a frown started to spread across his lips. Scott glanced back at the light, it had just turned green. Moving his foot from the brake, he lightly pressed on the gas pedal causing the car to jerk forward slowly.

"Jean just checked in, it appears that she unintentionally scared him off." The telepath sighed tiredly. "He should be heading home right now, since the academy is just a few blocks from his family's estate."

"We're about ten minutes, and 3 miles away." Scott said, checking the GPS. He frowned, glancing back into the rear view to look at the telepath in the back seat. "Why are you so worried about Jean scaring him off?"

Charles frowned for a moment, before putting on a neutral face. "You see Scott, I have reason to believe Mr. Soletta's powers are driven entirely by emotion. Much like Ororo, the level of control would be affected by Michael's emotional state."

Scott raised an eyebrow. If the teen's powers were anything like Storm's, then one wrong move could be disastrous. Now he understood why the professor was so nervous about this teen. Glancing at the GPS, he turned down a road with a long stretch of metal fences lining either side. The car passed two medium sized manors before reaching its destination.

Scott pulled the car to a slow stop in front of a large metal bar gate, in the middle of the gate was a large uppercase cursive _S_. The gates jerked slightly, then slowly slide open allowing the car entrance to white manor before them. Scott lightly pressed on the gas pedal, beginning their slow drive up the driveway.

There were various gardeners stationed on either side of paved driveway tending to the various plants on the lawn. He drove up to the front steps of the manor, where a maid and a woman dressed in a formal black and white pantsuit stood waiting.

The woman in the pantsuit smiled, motioning for the maid to open the back car door for her guest. She stood at 5'5 and had her long pale blonde in a low ponytail that she kept over her right shoulder. Her eyes were sapphire in color that held a calming and serene aura.

"Professor Xavier, welcome!" She said, flashing a pearly white smile. "Dr. Reid said you were handsome, but he didn't say just how handsome you really were."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Soletta." Charles greeted, reaching out to shake her outstretched hand. Scott opened the door to the driver's side, stepping out and handed the keys to the maid. "Please allow me to introduce one of my students, Scott Summers."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Scott! But please call me Rosella!" The blonde smiled brightly. "No need to be so formal with me. Won't you join me inside? Michael should be already in his practice room."

The group moved over to a ramp on the side of the stairs, making their way up the ramp they entered the front glass doors. The small group moved down the nearest hallway, then moved down the adjacent hallway filled with various paintings and antique vases. The faint sound of a violin could be heard playing from behind one of the doors.

Moving towards the door in the middle of the hall, Rosella frowned as she listened to the violin through the door. She knew that particular piece that was being played behind the oak door.

"Is something wrong, Rosella?" Charles asked, looked towards the dark oak door.

Rosella merely shook her head, offering them an apologetic smile. "It appears that he might be in one of his moods, he only plays this particular song when he's in one of his moods."

She reached out for the door handle, slowly twisted the handle pushing the door open. The sounds of the violin filled the hall as Rosella opened the door wide. The room itself was spacious, filled with three larges selves of books and a few different types of instruments. Near the middle of the room standing near the windows was Michael Soletta, his back to them.

His normally neat and tamed pale blonde hair was ruffled in various places. He looked like he just rolled out of bed. He'd taken to wearing his uniform loosely. The dress shirt collar was left unclasped, the top two buttons were left undone and his tie was pulled loose. His black blazer was draped over a nearby chair, the sleeves were rolled back pass his elbows.

The blonde slowly turned his body to face the door, all the while continuing to play the soft melody. His icy blue eyes were closed tightly. The small group slowly trudged their way inside. The maid silently made her exit, closing the door softly behind her, leaving them alone in the music room. The sound of the violin came to an abrupt end. Michael opened his eyes, lifting the slender bow off the strings.

Michael glared at the group standing in front of him. "Koko de nani o shite iru nodesu ka?"

* * *

Updated Author note (5/19/12)

Since the semester and exams are finally over, I went back and made a few touch ups to improve the chapter quality.

Translations:

**Italian**:

**Dannazione!**

**Damn it!**

**Chi è là?**

**Who's there?**

**Japanese:**

**Koko de nani o shite iru nodesu ka?**

**ここで何をしているのですか****?**

**(What are you doing here?)**


	2. Chapter 2

Updated Author Note (4/2/11)

I am proud to say that the revising process is now complete. I'm pleased to say that the first two chapters are now up to my new standards on how I think my writing should look. Now that's out of the way, I can focus on writing Chapter 6, please enjoy this revised chapter.

* * *

The temperature in the room seemed to drop drastically, matching the teen's icy cold stare. Scott felt himself shift uncomfortably. Though he couldn't understand what the blonde just said, he had an odd feeling the words weren't meant to be said in a nice way. And the way the teen's eyes bore into them, the ice blue orbs were hard and cold. It was like he was staring into their very souls.

_There's something about this kid_. _I can't explain it, but he makes me feel uneasy_. Scott thought, carefully watching the blonde.

"Michael." Rosella said, in a warning tone.

The blonde's glare softened slightly, quickly turning his gaze to the nearest corner in the room. His pale cheeks brightened with a very faint pink blush. He lowered his violin, so the string instrument rested against the side of his right hip. Mike turned his gaze back to his mother and guests.

"Mamma?" The blonde spoke softly. "Potrei parlare con te, da solo?"

The frown on the blonde woman's face quickly melted into a small look of concern. It was rare for her son to talk to her in such a soft voice. She briefly glanced over her shoulder at their guests, then back to her son.

"Of course, I'll be outside if you need me."

Nodding to her guests, Rosella walked passed them towards the door quickly making her exit. As the door closed behind her with a soft click, the cold glare return to the pale teen's face. The blonde moved to put his violin down on a nearby black piano, then whipped his body around to face them.

"What are you doing here!?" Mike whisper yelled. The blonde raked a hand roughly through his already tousled hair. "What part of me saying no, did you not hear?"

"I remember what you said, Mr. Soletta." Charles said calmly. "But I don't think you fully understand the reason why I wish to invite you to my school."

"Yeah, cause I'm freak." The blonde snorted.

The telepath frowned at the blonde's choice of words. "Mr. Soletta, you are not a 'freak'."

"Oh, I stand corrected, is _Mutant_ better?" The blonde rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Soletta, there's no need to be hostile." The professor stared at him with a neutral face.

Mike glared at the telepath with narrowed eyes. "Who's being hostile? I'm just being perfectly honest about how I feel."

Mike leaned against the side of the piano, crossing his arms in a huff. He felt a small stab of pain shoot through his head. The blonde winced slightly as the pain subsided. Risking a glance, he looked down at his shaking hands.

They were completely normal, no ebony black glow outlining his fingertips or anything. Mike clenched and unclenched his right hand slowly; he could feel the tingling sensation from earlier returning.

"I have a question for you." Mike whispered, keeping his gaze on his hand. "Tell me, what makes someone a 'mutant'?"

"Well you see in some individuals, there is something called an X-Gene." Scott said, speaking up for the first time since they arrived. "The X-Gene is usually dormant, until that person reaches puberty or later on in life."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "So this one little gene is the cause of all this?"

"Yes, that's about right." Scott retorted in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Is that right?" Mike nodded, letting the words soak in. He looked up from his hand to look directly into Charles' dark eyes. "If you know so much about it, then get rid of mine."

Silence filled the music room as three pairs of eyes stared each other down. A small frown appeared on the telepath's lips. He had met a lot of different mutants through out his life, but it was very rare that he encountered someone like this boy.

Nevertheless he had been asked this before, and the outcome to answering that question was always the same. The telepath prepared to reply, but the blonde teen turned his attention back to his violin.

"I thought as much." Mike sighed tiredly.

Reaching over for the violin case, the blonde gingerly placed his white instrument inside its black case. It was then that Scott noticed just how tired the blonde really looked.

The brown haired teen slowly walked towards the tired blonde carefully. Reaching a hand out, he gently placed it on Mike's shoulder. The blonde teen tensed suddenly under his hand. With a swift jerk, Mike removed his shoulder from Scott's grasp.

He moved back, until he felt his back hit the side of the white piano. Mike glared icily at the brown haired teen.

"**Don't** touch me." He hissed, venom dripping from his voice.

With a swift movement, the blonde slammed the lid of his violin case down loudly. Grabbing the small handle, Mike jerked it off the piano then pushed himself pass Scott and towards the door. He reached out for the door handle, but his hand stopped a few inches from the metal handle. Mike winced as a quick stab of pain shot through his head causing him to drop his violin case. He felt himself stagger backwards a few steps.

"La mia testa." The blonde gently massaged his throbbing temple. Out of the corner of his eye, he could barely make out someone moving towards him.

_Try to relax_,_ Mr. Soletta_. A calm voice in his head instructed.

The pale teen winced at the voice in his head. Then the pain suddenly seemed to lessen slightly, before slowly subsiding. All that remained was a very dull ache at the back of his head.

"W-who's doing that!?" Mike stammered fearfully. He shook his head, trying to regain his bearings.

The telepath smiled apologetically. "Please forgive me, I didn't mean to scare you. Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I-I'm fine. I just─" His icy blue orbs widened with sudden realization. With a swift jerk, the blonde slammed his back hard against the nearest wall. "It was _you_!"

"Mr. Soletta, please cal-"

"No?! I will **not** calm down?!" Mike spat icily.

Without warning, a gut wrenching pain shot through his head like a gunshot. The pale teen let out a pained cry as he clutched at his throbbing head. The very ends of his trembling fingers felt like they were on fire.

The blonde sank to his knees, whimpering weakly under his breath. The pain shooting through his skull was almost unbearable. It felt as if someone was stabbing him in the head repeatedly with a piece of superheated metal. He could barely make out the low hum of electric wheels over the pounding in his head.

Mike almost jumped when he felt two strong, steady hands placed over his trembling ones.

"Michael? Michael, I need you to try and take a few deep breaths, can you do that for me?" Charles instructed calmly. The blonde sucked in a shaky breath, trying to follow the telepath's instructions. "Just focus on my voice, alright? Just nod to let me know that you understand."

Mike nodded stiffly, trying to focus through the debilitating stabs of pain shooting through his skull. His body shuddered weakly as he tried to breathe. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Charles shut his eyes.

The pain quickly started to subside until it was just a dull throbbing.

After taking a few deep breaths to calm his nerves, the blonde let his head hang forward almost limply. The wheelchair bound telepath allowed Mike to rest his forehead on his left knee, while the blonde finally got his breathing under control.

Scott got down on one knee next to the pale teen, gently placing a hand on Mike's back. He could feel Mike's body tense up.

"Sorry, I forgot you don't like being touched." He said, removing his hand.

"I-it's fine." The blonde grunted, lifting his head tiredly.

The half-Italian, half-Japanese teen slowly pushed himself up to stand on wobbly legs, allowing Scott to help him when he felt himself sway. Reaching over to the forgotten violin case, Scott deposited it in the blonde's shaking hands.

Mike avoided both of their gazes by keeping his eyes focused on the smooth material of his dress shoe.

"Are you sure that you're alright?" Scott asked.

Mike only nodded. "Y-yeah, I'm going to go lay down for a little bit."

The pale teen wordlessly turned towards the door and walked out of the room. Along the way he passed his mother, who watched him with concerned sapphire eyes. She watched him trek down the hall until he quickly darted around the nearest corner.

She was so focused on the hallway that her son disappeared down that she didn't notice that she was no longer alone in the hall.

"Rosella?"

The blonde woman jumped in surprise, tearing her eyes from the hallway to meet a pair of calm dark brown eyes. Charles' face was neutral, but she could see a small hint of concern in his eyes. Rosella felt her cheeks heat up in a fierce blush.

"Charles, please don't scare me like that." The blonde haired woman tried to compose herself, gently resting a hand over her heart.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to scare you." He offered her a kind smile.

"Oh, please don't worry about that, Charles." Rosella said, returning the smile. "I was wondering if everything was alright, I thought I heard Michael shouting just a moment ago."

The telepath merely shook his head and smiled "Everything is fine; he just got a little worked up is all. I was wondering if I could speak with you in private."

"Y-yes, yes of course." The blonde nodded, smiling nervously. "If you'll follow me to my study, we should be able to talk without anyone interrupting us."

She looked over to her right, waving down the maid that accompanied them earlier. The maid nodded her head, making her way down the hall. She stopped beside Rosella as whispered something in her ear. The raven haired maid simply nodded in response.

"Mr. Summers, if you will follow me, I shall show you to the young master's room." The maid spoke softly.

The brunette teen raised an eyebrow. Scott glanced at his mentor, as if silently asking for his permission. Charles merely nodded for him to follow her as moved his wheelchair to follow after the blonde woman. The brunette watched them disappear down the long hallway, before turning his attention to his guide.

"Please lead the way, Miss─?"

"Francesca." She supplied kindly.

The two trekked down the hallways silently, passing a few paintings of the countryside that were hung on the walls. Turning the nearest right corner, Scott and the maid climbed up a small stairway to the second floor.

Bright sunlight shined through window, bathing the stairwell in a warm glow of white light. After reaching the top step, Francesca turned her body to face Scott.

"If you go to down the left hall, the young master's room is the fifth door on the right side." Francesca said, pointing down the correct hall. "The young master usually leaves his door open a crack most of the time."

"Thank you for your help, Francesca." Scott retorted, smiling gratefully.

A faint blush appeared on the raven haired maid's face, turning her eyes away from the brunette teen. She smiled almost nervously at Scott. "Y-you're welcome, Mr. Summers. I-If you'll excuse m-me, I should get back to work."

Quickly turning on her heels, Francesca all but ran down the gray marble stairs. When she was completely out of sight, Scott stared at the stairs for a moment as the sound of clicking heels faded.

He shrugged his shoulders with an amused smile. Turning back to the matter at hand, the brunette made his way down the left corridor. Looking on the right side of the corridor, Scott mentally counted the dark oak doors as he passed them.

_Most of these hallways look the same_. Scott noted absently. The second floor looked like an exact copy of the first floor, the only difference being there were far more windows on this floor. _Whoever designed this place must have had a thing for gray marble, arch windows and oak doors_.

The brunette was so absorbed in his musing that he almost missed the correct door. The door leading to the blonde teen's room was half closed, only enough to block the view of the room behind it. This is probably what Francesca meant by Mike leaving his door opened just a crack.

Lifting his hand, Scott rapped the back of his knuckles on the door lightly but loud enough to be heard. The brunette waited for a response, only to be rewarded with silence.

Scott pushed the door open just enough to slide his head inside the doorway.

"Mike?" He called out.

Scott's eyes widened behind his ruby quartz sunglasses. The blonde's room was quite spacious and empty. It was surprisingly spotless unlike a typical teenager's room. Everything was organized in a very specific way. It almost border lined on OCD.

One section of the room was nothing but a few musical instruments placed neatly in the far corner. Even though he couldn't see it, the entire room was completely stark white from the walls to the floor. The room almost looked like something out of a hospital.

_And here I thought that I was the only neat freak_. Scott thought, rolling his eyes.

Taking a step inside, he scanned over the room looking for any trace of the blonde. But couldn't find him anywhere until he looked over at the bed. Sitting on the white sheets was the blonde's violin case.

_If this is here, then he must be around here somewhere_. He mused. Looking around the room again, he felt a small breeze of air lightly tousle his hair.

Turning his head, the brunette stared at a pair of glass doors that lead out onto a gray stone balcony. The right door was cracked open a little to allow the breeze from outside into the room.

Making his way over to the balcony doors, Scott saw a black dress pant clad leg on the right side of the door. As he drew closer, he could saw said blonde teen sitting with his back pressed against the wall of the manor. His left leg lay stretched out in front of him, while his right knee was draw up so he could rest his arm on it. He stared blankly out in front of him.

The blonde let out an aggravated sigh without warning. "Can I ever catch a friggin break around here?"

"Sorry, I just wanted to see if you were okay." Scott said, finally finding his voice.

"Yeah, I'm just peachy." Was the sour retort.

"Look, I'm sorry if we've offended you back there." The brunette sighed, stepping out on the balcony. He walked over to the left side of the balcony and leaned against the stone railing. "We only want to help you."

The blonde snorted, turning his head to look at the older teen. "Help me? Please pray tell, how exactly are you helping me? By telling me that I'm a freak? That I'm a mutant?"

"Look, I know what you're goin─"

"Do you now?!" Mike snapped, shooting the brunette a frigid glare. "I was fine just last week! I was **normal**, I was like **everyone** else!"

The blonde teen closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall. He let out another aggravated sigh. It just wasn't fair, dammit. Why **him** of all people? What did he do to deserve **this**?

He was already considered to be an outcast by his classmates. Just imagine what would happen if his classmates would do if they found out about him being a mutant? A freak?

_Just what I need_. Mike groaned mentally.

"Uh, Mike?" The blonde grunted in response. "You might want to take a look at this."

The blonde opened his eyes to look at the brunette, who pointed to over to the other side of the balcony.

Raising an eyebrow, Mike followed with his eyes to where Scott was pointing. His icy blue eyes grew wide in surprise. A flower pot that sat on the stone balcony railing was levitating in the air. If he looked closer, he could make out a faint purple aura outlining the flower pot.

"Che diavolo?" Mike muttered, looking at the pot in confusion.

As soon as those words were uttered, the dark pot went crashing down to the railing. It connected with the gray stone railing and exploded on impact, sending orange clay fragments flying. The two teens shielded their eyes from being hit by said fragments.

As the dirt cloud dispersed, the two teens winced in surprise when it cleared. The section where the pot had hit and the small pillar underneath it were completely destroyed by the impact.

The two teens exchanged a look of bewilderment before quickly moving to inspect the damage. There was no chance in hell that a **frail** flower pot could cause that much damage to a **stone** railing.

"Okay, I wasn't the only one that saw that, right?" The pale teen asked nervously. He reached out nervously to touch the damaged stone. "This can't be real. I must be imagining this, right!?"

"Look, I know this is hard for you to understan─"

"I mean, look at this!" Mike stammered, trying in vain to keep the panic out of his voice. "Flower pots shouldn't do that! The only logical explanation would be if I could manipulate gravity itself. But that's ridiculous!?"

_I always hate this part, _Scott sighed lightly to himself. He watched the pale teen rake a hand through his hair. _No matter how many times we go through this, it never gets any easier_.

"Listen, I know you don't want to believe this, but this isn't a hallucination." Scott stated matter-of-factly. He wasn't going to sugar coat this, Mike needed to face reality. "The fact is your X-Gene has become active, there's nothing you can do to change that."

"Thank you for that 'heartfelt' speech, I feel _so much_ better now." Mike retorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Taking one last look at damaged railing, the blonde then sighed to himself in resignation. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, but this is a lot to take in."

_What am I doing? _He thought sadly. _I barely know this guy, and I'm acting like a total ass to him._

"Listen, I understand how you feel." Scott retorted sympathetically. "Everyone with an X-Gene goes through this when it first becomes active. But you're not alone; we're here to help you through this."

The blonde teen raised an eyebrow at that. Turning his gaze to look through the glass doors leading into his bedroom, seeing no one else in his empty room.

"Speaking of 'we', where's the Professor?" Mike inquired. "Or that girl I met at St. Agatha's, for that matter?"

"Jean is on her way, she just had to take care of something first." Scott retorted, leaning back against the wall. "The Professor should be discussing something with your parents somewhere."

A frown appeared on the blonde's lips, his brows furrowed in annoyance. Scott raised an eyebrow at sudden change in the pale teen's demeanor. Scott watched the teen carefully when he moved away from the damaged railing to stand in front of him.

"_Parents_? Don't make me laugh." He spat, the venom back in his voice. "The only parent that's been there for me is my mother. Nobody else!"

"Hey look, I'm sorry." The brunette teen held his hands up in defeat. "If I brought up something I shouldn't have, I apologize."

The frown on Mike's lip turned a small sad smile. He slowly turned and walked back over to the damaged rail. Placing a hand on the damaged stone, Mike turned his head to look at the taller teen.

"No, I should be the one to apologize. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." He retorted, letting out a sad sigh. "It's just a touchy subject for me. The truth is I have no idea who my father is. I don't even know if he's still alive or not."

(-)

After Scott had left with Francesca, Rosella lead Charles to her private office on the opposite side of the mansion. The two adults retraced their steps back to the main foyer and took the farthest hallway on right side of the room.

The hall was plainly decorated with various small dark wood tables and small glass vases with different kinds of flowers in them. For the entire trip, the two adults remained silent before reaching their destination.

The blonde woman opened the door for Charles to wheel himself inside before entering the room herself. The blonde moved towards her desk and took her seat on the opposite of the desk. Her sapphire eyes were hard, and her face was devoid of any emotion.

"Charles, please let me first apologize for my son." Rosella started calmly. "Michael may not be the most sociable person, but deep down he really is a good boy."

"Please, Rosella it's quite alright." Charles smiled kindly.

"Yes, but as of late he has been acting distant." She sighed tiredly. It was then that the telepath saw the signs of fatigue in her features. "I mean, he isn't one to express how he feels to most people, but he would come to me if something was bothering him. But now, I don't know."

"And you believe that whatever is bothering him is the cause of his recent behavior?" Charles inquired, raising an eyebrow. "I can see where you're coming from."

She nodded sadly.

Leaning back in her chair, Rosella glanced at the picture frame on the left side of her desk. It was her and Mike, when he was about six years old.

The picture itself was taken by a professional photographer. The man that took it was an old associate of Salvatore, her father. She smiled fondly at the photo; they were sitting in the back garden and Mike had his arms wrapped loosely around her neck. He had a huge grin on his face, Rosella had her eyes closed and was laughing happily when the photo was snapped. It was her favorite photo of them.

"He's my son, I love him very dearly," She smiled lovingly. Her eyes slowly welled up with tears, but she willed them away. "I want only what's best for him, and if you can help him then I'm willing to put my trust in you."

Charles smiled kindly. "You love him more than anything, don't you?"

"I do." She retorted softly.

He smiled knowingly at her. This mother cared deeply for her son; there was no doubt about that. Charles mentally prepared himself for the next part of their discussion. This was always the hardest part, but he was confident that Rosella would still love her son no matter what might happen.

"There is actually a particular reason why I've come here, Rosella." Charles started, waiting for her to let him continue. With a nod from the blonde, he continued. "You see, in some individuals there exists something called an X-Gene. This X-Gene usually remains dormant, until that person hits puberty or latter on in their life."

"And you believe my son has this gene?" Rosella cut in, clearly confused.

Charles nodded solemnly, so far she seem to be taking this very well. "People that have this particular gene are called Mutants. This gene gives them superhuman abilities or certain powers."

"Mutant?" She asked nervously. "I don't understand, so Michael is a mutant now?"

"Yes." Charles retorted calmly.

Rosella sat back in her chair, letting the newfound information sink in. How could her own son be a mutant? There was nothing wrong with him, physically or mentally. He was the same boy he always was, well, except for sudden change in his personality as of recently.

So he had a certain gene, but that didn't make him any different from the boy she had raised for the past sixteen years. He was the only thing left that she truly cared about, and one little gene wasn't going to take that away from her.

"If you don't mind my asking, why do you want my son to join your school?" She inquired, trying to keep her face neutral.

Charles noticed the change in the blonde's tone. She was being protective of the younger blonde. She had every right to be, he was her only son after all.

"I run a special school that helps young mutants to learn how to control their powers in a safe environment." Charles retorted simply. Rosella raised an eyebrow; a curious interest appeared in her sapphire eyes. "At my school, we strive to create a world where humans and mutants can co-exist with each other without fear of persecution."

Rosella nodded smiling. "That seems like an admirable dream, Charles. I, for one, agree whole heartedly with you about sending Michael to your school. But it's really up to Michael on whether or not he wants to go, I can't force him."

"Yes, that's understandable. It is his choice after all."

The two adults shared a nodded in agreement. Rosella fidgeted a little in her seat, the action didn't go unnoticed by the telepath's sharp eyes. It looked like she wanted to say something, but was trying to find the right words before saying them out loud.

"S-so, uh─ have you determined what kind of powers Michael has?" Rosella asked, clearly nervous about what kind of answer she'd get.

"Unfortunately, I'm not particularly sure." He frowned, looked down at his lap. "But from what I've been able to gather, his powers seem to be emotional based."

The blonde woman looked alarmed for a moment, but calmed herself when he raised his hand for her to wait. When she leaned back into chair, he continued.

"I know that might sound terrifying, but I have an instructor at my school with the same problem. But she has years of experience with her powers, so she could probably help him with his powers."

Rosella smiled. She knew then and there that her son would be in good hands, if he did decide to go with them. The only question was would he go if she asked him to? She may be his mother, but he had always been independent and mature for his age, despite only being sixteen. All she wanted for him was to be happy.

"Please excuse me for asking, but where is your husband?" Charles asked curiously. He didn't mean to pry, but if was for her son's future then he should at least have both parents agree on this.

Rosella winced at his words, but tried to hide her discomfort. Her wince didn't go unnoticed by her guest. Shifting nervously in her chair, Rosella sighed to herself in defeat. There was no way she could avoid it any longer.

"About that," She started, but paused briefly to find the right words. "Well, the truth is I don't have a husband. Sixteen years ago, I met and fell in love with a Japanese artist named Ohgami Fujieda. He was hired to come and paint a portrait of the Soletta Estate for my father."

She smiled at the fond memory.

"You could say for us it was love at first sight." She chuckled weakly. Brushing a loose strand of hair back, she continued. "As cliché as that sounds, it was true. We fell in love and before we knew it Michael was eventually born between us."

"Making Michael half-Italian, half-Japanese." Charles muttered under his breath.

Rosella nodded.

"Yes, although most people can't tell that just by looking at him. While he has most of my features, he gets his handsome looks from his father." She explained, showing Charles the photo on her desk. "Aside from speaking fluent English and Italian, he knows quite a bit of Japanese as you've already seen. Michael has always been fascinated by Japanese culture."

"It's impresses that he's managed to learn all that by himself." The telepath mused.

"Yes, he's a remarkable boy. After Michael was born, we had already made plans to be married shortly after his birth." She paused, remembering the scene vividly. "We went to my father and ask for his blessing, but he disapproved."

Her body went rigid. Charles could see her try to suppress the feelings of rage that were building up. She practically spat the word disapproved.

"He called it scandalous, a disgraceful to the Soletta name. He wanted Ohgami to leave Italy and never come back." She clutched the picture frame in hand tightly. "He even threatened to have him arrested if he didn't agree to leave. Ohgami had no choice, but to agree with my father's demands and leave."

"And Michael doesn't know anything about this?" Charles inquired.

"No he doesn't. However, when he was three years old, he had overheard the end of an argument between my father and me." She sighed tiredly. The argument was still vivid in her mind's eye. "Fortunately Michael didn't hear much, and he was too young to remember any of it."

The two adults sat in silence, simply looking at each other's eyes. The sound of birds singing happily outside the window could be heard faintly. The blonde woman leaned back into her chair, letting her head rest against the back of the chair.

She was so tired of keeping this hidden for so long, but there wasn't much she could do about it. If she told Michael now after so long, what would he think of her?

His already rocky relationship with his grandfather would become worse than it already was. Now that Charles brought it to her attention about how her son's powers were emotional based, her fear of telling him were doubled.

"Promise me something, Charles." She said sternly. Her tone left no room for argument.

The telepath merely nodded his promise, waiting for her to continue.

"Under no circumstances should this conversation ever be repeated around Michael." Rosella stated sternly, her sapphire eyes were cold and serious. "I will be the one tell him about Ohgami. I am the only one that should shoulder this burden. I will not let anyone else suffer for my own mistakes."

"I understand Rosella. I will try and respect your wishes." He promised, giving her a reassuring smile. She returned it with a brilliant smile of her own.

A sharp knocking brought them out of their conversation, as Mike and Scott made their way inside the now quiet office. While Scott remained by the door, Mike wordlessly made his way over to the middle of the room and stopped halfway.

The blonde shifted nervously on his feet, his icy blue eyes held a nervous glint in them. Both adults could easily tell right away that something was bothering him.

"M-Mamma, ho qualcosa da dirti." Mike said nervously. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously with his right hand.

"Michael, I already know dear." Rosella cut in, smiling at him. "Professor Xavier was kind enough explained it to me, and you're still the same person that I've raised these past sixteen years. I'll still love you, no matter what happens."

The blonde's icy blue eyes widened in surprise.

"Have you made your final decision?" She asked, her own sapphire eyes focusing on his icy blue orbs.

Mike nodded timidly.

"I-I have. I want to learn how to control these powers, s-so I don't hurt anyone." He said, shifting nervously. He hated how all eyes in the room were on him at that very moment. Turning his gaze to the telepath in front of him, the blonde offered a nervous smile.

"A wise decision, Michael." Charles said smiling. "I'm happy to hear that you made the right choice."

The pale teen gave him a weak smile, before looking to his mother. She smiled back happily at him. Mike felt a hand lightly pat his shoulder, turning his head he saw Scott offer him a smile of his own.

"Hey, if you need any help packing, I'll give you a hand." The brunette offered kindly.

"Sure, that'd be great." Mike retorted quietly.

Turning his head back to face his mother, he saw a faint glimmer in her eyes. He knew that little glimmer in her eyes all to well; it was always there when she was hiding something.

Something told him that she was discussing something very important with Professor Xavier. Whatever it was, it must have been so important that he couldn't know about it. But no matter, for now he would continue playing the clueless son until he finally got the answers he was looking for.

"I'll let you boys go ahead and do that. We just have some last minute details to discuss." Rosella said smiling.

"Alright, mom. Come on Scott, let's get started." He just gave her a _fake smile_ and nodded at Scott.

As the two teens turned to head back the pale teen's room, he shot his mother an unseen dirty look just as he turned to head for the door.

_You're hiding something from me. And I will find out what mother dear, you can count on __**that**_. He thought darkly.

* * *

6/5/12

And with that I give the last of the revisions, and I'm proud to say that all my effort will be put in making chapter 6 will be that much stronger. For the rest of the week, I will be going over chapters 3 & 4 for any errors in grammar to improve their overall quality. Please, if you have any questions at all, feel free to PM any questions you make have.

-Cyprin-san

Translation:

**Italian**:

**Mamma? Va bene se parlo con i nostri ospiti, da solo?**

**Mom? Is it okay if I talk with our guests, alone?**

**La mia testa**

**My head**

**Che diavolo?**

**What the hell?**

**Mamma, ho qualcosa da dirti.**

**Mom, I have something to tell you.**


	3. Chapter 3

Updated Author Note (6/5/12)

I've gone through and found a few things that needed some tweaking and adding.

* * *

The blonde haired teen sighed tiredly to himself.

Glancing half-heartedly out the window of the black jet that belonged to Charles Xavier. All he could see was an endless sea of white clouds and the dark blue waters below them, as the black jet flew through the twilight lit skies.

_Was this the right thing to do?_ He thought sadly.

Michael lowered his gaze from the window to his hands; they lay folded on his lap unmoving. Unfolding his hands, he slowly rubbed his pale hands together in a failed attempt to rid them of the sweat that had accumulated on his pale skin. He couldn't explain it. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden?

_I'm just being paranoid, yeah that's it._ He thought calmly. Leaning back slightly in his chair, Mike tried to make himself relax against the cushions of his chair.

_There's absolutely nothing to be nervous about, come on Soletta get a grip!_

Looking out of the corner of his eyes, the pale teen stole a glance at the red head sitting next to him from across the aisle. Her serene face betrayed no emotion as she continued to look out of the window next to her. He quickly turned his gaze from her just as she turned her head to look back at the front of the jet.

Turning his attention back down to his lap, the blonde didn't see her glance at him briefly. It wasn't long before he moved his gaze from his lap to look out the window again.

Mike allowed his tired eyes to close slowly as he rested his head against the smooth glass in exhaustion. Jean cast the exhausted blonde a faint smile the moment his eyes fell shut.

If she really listened carefully, she could almost faintly hear his breathing slow and even out. She watched as the pale teen curled his body as much as possible in the firm seat. It was almost cute to see the stoic blonde curled up in an attempt to get some sleep.

"Poor guy, he must be exhausted from everything that's happened today." Jean whispered softly. She turned her head to the cockpit of the Blackbird.

Charles turned his head slightly to look back at the blonde that was currently asleep in his seat. A small smile formed on his lips, turning his brown eyes back to the controls for the jet.

"Yeah. Maybe once we get back to the mansion, we should let him get to bed early." Scott suggested, keeping his eyes trained on the sky in front of him.

While the two teens were talking about school related matters, Charles allowed his thoughts drifted back to his conversation with the pale teen's mother right before they left.

(-)

_Charles and Rosella watched the two teens load Mike's belongings into the back of the van that Charles had brought for the trip. Jean sat in the driver's seat, watching them load the truck from the rear view mirror._

"_Charles, there's something I want to ask you before you go_." _The blonde woman said in a hushed voice. Charles turned his wheelchair face her and give his complete attention._

"_Yes, Rosella?_" _He asked kindly_.

_Rosella smiled weakly, quickly stealing a glance at her son's back as he talked with Scott about something. Turning her gaze from his back, she looked into the telepath's warm brown eyes. _

"_I was wonder if you could keep me informed on his progress, both academics wise and on how he's coming along with his powers?_" _She asked softly_. _Charles smiled knowingly at her, nodding at her request as she smiled at him._

"_Of course, Rosella. If there's anything else you wish to know, please feel free to call me._" _He said, handing her a card with the number of his office._ _A smile appeared on the woman's pale lips as she took the card and firmly shook hands with him._

"_Thank you, Charles. I know my son is in capable hands._"_ Rosella said smiling. If anyone was going to help her son with his powers, it would be this man right in front of her. _"_Should you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to ask me personally._"

"_Oh,_ _that won't be necessary Rosella._" _Charles retorted smiling._

_The pale woman chuckled at his modesty. _"_Oh __but I insist. I mean you're helping my son, it's the least I could do._"

"_Mom?_"

_The two adults turned at the timid voice to see Mike standing a few feet away, afraid that he had interrupted their conversation. He looked into his mother's warm sapphire eyes, as if he was searching for something._

_Before either of them knew it, he closed the gap between them by wrapping his arms around her to hug her around the middle. The older blonde looked surprised at this sudden display of affection. _

_Nevertheless, Rosella wrapped her arms around her teenage son. She held him close to her body as he buried his face in her shoulder. She gently rested one of her hands on the back of his head, gingerly stroked the back of his head._

"_Hehe, I can't believe my little boy is leaving me so soon." She teased lightly. She felt Mike hugged her a little tighter, which she returned with a smile._ "_When did you become so grown up?_"

"_Mamma, I'm not a little kid anymore_." _The blonde retorted softly. As he raised his head slowly from his mother's shoulder, he looked directly into her sapphire orbs_. "_I'll only be gone for a few months at the most, and then I'll be back. I'll be sure to call you a few times a month to keep in touch with you._"

_The older blonde smiled lovingly at him._ "_Oh, I know you will dear._"

_The two blondes slowly pulled away from their embrace smiling, Rosella held her son's shoulders as she looked him over once more. She moved her hand to gently caress left side of Mike's face. And before he could move back, she leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to his pale forehead. As she pulled away, his face turned an unattractive shade of bright red._

"_Mom!_" _The blonde groaned. _

_Rosella laughed softly at her son's bright red face, while he glared at her with a mix of embarrassment and annoyance. The sound of faint chuckling was heard behind them, causing Mike to crank his head to the side._

_His eyes zeroed in on Jean, who had at some point gotten out of the van and was currently standing by Scott. She had an amused look on her face as the blush on his face seemed to grow darker in color._

"_You find something amusing?_"_ Mike asked, a small hint of annoyance in his voice._

_Jean's smile only seemed to grow._ "_Oh, I don't know what you mean~_"

_The blonde teen snorted in annoyance, turning his eyes back to the man that would help him with controlling his powers. He had overheard the beginning part of the conversation between his mother and the telepath._

_What really caught his attention was when she mentioned about academics, in addition to learning how about his powers. Would that mean he'd have to worry about school, on top of learning how to control his powers?_

_Charles must have seen the look of uncertainty on his face, and offered him knowing smile._ "_Let me put your mind to ease, Mr. Soletta. I would never force you to do something that would make you feel uncomfortable. Once you feel that you have a good enough handle on your powers, we can talk about enrolling you at the local high school._"

_Mike sighed in what sounded like relief._

"_Well that's a load off my mind._"_ The blonde teen muttered sarcastically._

_Scott smirked at the pale teen, having heard his sarcastic tone. _"_At least wearing uniforms aren't mandatory at Bayville High, not yet anyway._"

"_Good, I was starting to get tired of wearing the same thing five days a week._"_ Mike chuckled tiredly. Jean and Scott laughed at the teen's melodramatic declaration, while Charles and Rosella smiled at the blonde._

(-)

"...Professor?"

The telepath was pulled out of his thoughts by a sudden voice calling to him. Turning his head, Charles was met by his reflection in a pair of ruby colored sunglasses. He didn't need his telepathy to tell that there was something that Scott wanted to talk to him about.

"My apologies, Scott. I wasn't paying attention, what were you saying?" Charles asked calmly.

Scott's eyebrow rose slightly at his mentor's sudden lack of attention. Turning his head back to the controls, Scott turned the auto-pilot on before stretching his stiff arms. "I said, we should be arriving at the Institute in forty five minutes. Due to a forming storm in the Atlantic, we should be expecting some minor turbulence, but nothing serious."

"I see. Have there been any transmissions from the mansion?" He inquired, turning his attention back to the controls of the jet.

Jean glanced at the back of his seat in concern. "No, we haven't received anything. Professor is everything alright? You've been rather quiet since we got back on the Blackbird."

The older telepath debated whether he tell them about the exchange between him and Rosella, but quickly decided that they shouldn't get involved in the blonde's family matters. He didn't want to risk letting anything slip to blonde teen currently sleeping in the second row.

Despite his feelings that the teen having the right to know about his father, it really wasn't his place to disclose such information to him. There was still something bothering him, and he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Yes Jean, everything's fine." Charles said, forcing a fake smile. "I was merely contemplating about what kind of training would be most suitable for Michael's kind of powers."

"Why?" Scott asked, stealing a glance at the sleeping teen behind him.

Charles turned his eyes to his first student. "Well as you know Scott, Michael's powers are similar to Storm's. The most extreme emotions, such as anger and frustration, are to be avoided at all cost."

He paused for a moment to find the right words to describe this, without leaving any crucial detail out. "If his powers are anything like her, he ruins the risk of being losing all control and be consumed by the very power he wields."

"So, in order to prevent this, Mike has to keep a lid on **all** of his emotions to avoid losing control?" Jean speculated curiously. If that was true, then he wouldn't be able to express anything without running the risk of losing control.

"No, not all of his emotions Jean. He should be able to express certain emotions. It's the stronger emotions that we should be wary of." Charles explained calmly. Jean almost got it, but she just needed to think on a bigger scale. "But the chances of this happening can be avoided with the proper training, and how well he can keep his other emotions in check."

"From what I've seen first hand on his balcony, I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that." Scott muttered humorlessly.

An uncomfortable silence filled the cockpit, the three awake occupants looked over to the blonde as he continued to sleep. They could hear his faint breathing as he shifted in his sleep.

"Actually Professor, while we're on the subject about his powers, what would you exactly call his type of 'telekinesis' that Jean described to us?" The brunette asked curiously. "From what Jean told us, he used darkness to pick up and throw a chair at her."

Aside from witnessing the blonde manipulate what he believe to be gravity, he only saw this other power as a black outline on the blonde's hands.

"While I'm not exactly familiar with this form of 'telekinesis', it would be appear that Michael can use darkness in the same manner as Jean with her telekinesis." The older telepath said, folding his hands together so he could rest his chin on them. "However, what I am familiar with is the ability to manipulate gravity, or Gravitokinesis as it's formally called, that you described to me earlier Scott."

Jean cocked her head in interest at the foreign word. "Gravitokinesis? Isn't that one of Blob's powers?"

Charles merely shook his head. "Not exactly, Jean. Aside from Blob's enhanced powers of strength, durability and endurance, his powers grants him a 'personal' gravity field that keeps him immovable as long as he remains on the ground. In Michael's case and most Gravitokinetics, they can generate or manipulate existing gravity itself to various extents."

"So, the kid can control darkness and gravity together? Why do I get the feeling that we're dealing with a black hole?" Scott mused, shaking his head. Charles merely chuckled at the brunette.

"That's a good way to summarize it, Scott. A black hole is said to be made of these two elements." Charles stated calmly. "From what we've seen so far, Michael's ability to control darkness and gravity could be seen as a black hole."

"So, in a sense, we can consider Mike to be a pseudo black hole in human form?" Jean mused, rubbing her chin as if she was pondering on the matter.

The jet rocked slightly against the strong winds of the Atlantic Ocean, drawing the three occupants out of their conversation. The clouds were no longer their usual cotton white, but a light gray color. They were so deep in conversation that they hadn't noticed the rain lightly hitting against the glass of the cockpit.

Turning his attention back to the controls, Scott disengage the Blackbird's auto-pilot. Reaching over to the nearest control console, the brunette teen pressed a few buttons on the console. The lights in the cockpit began to adjust automatically, restoring light to the currently darkened cockpit.

It only took a second for the three awake occupants to adjust to the change in lighting. However, the sudden change in lighting also earned a pained groan from the sleeping blonde.

"Who turned the l-lights on?" Mike groaned, his voice slurred by sleep.

Jean tried to hold in her snickering at the blonde teen's groggy tone, but failed. The blonde glared at her with a mix annoyance and disorientation as he roughly rubbed his stinging eyes. In attempt to adjust to the change in lighting, Mike slowly squinted his eyes to block out the offending light from shining into his sensitive eyes.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. How was your nap?" Jean teased lightly.

The blonde rolled his eyes at her, uncurling his body to stretch his legs out. He blinked a few more times, his icy blue eyes finally adjusted to the harsh fluorescent lights.

"I was, until somebody turned the sun on!" He grunted tiredly. Sending a glare to the brunette teen sitting up at front of the jet. Looking out his window, the pale teen stared blankly at the now light gray clouds. "Where are we?"

"We're still flying over the Atlantic. But if we keep going at the speed we're going, we should reach our destination roughly in about ten to twenty five minutes." Scott explained casually.

Mike simply nodded to himself, turning to look out the window again to watch the raindrops slide down the glass of the window. Mike smiled to himself, he was one of the very few people that didn't mind the rain, but actually enjoyed it.

He loved the way it felt on his skin, how it ran through his hair as he walked back and forth from school. When he thought about it, the rain always made him feel calm and at ease. Mike vaguely remembered something his mother once told him about rain, when he was still a young boy.

"_Well dear, the reason why it's rains is because the heavens themselves are weeping_." She had said.

'_Because the heavens are weeping_'? Mike thought, rolling his eyes.

His mother did have an 'interesting' way of describing certain things, but then again he was just a little kid when he asked her. He wouldn't have been able to understand the concept of evaporation when he was just four years old.

Maybe it was just her way of simplifying it for him, so he would be able to understand it. He chuckled quietly, thinking about how innocent and naïve he had been back then.

_Those days were simple, back when nothing really matter_. Mike thought sadly.

Back then everything was so much better; he didn't have a care in the world. But then again, everything wasn't all sugar and rainbows. Now all he really cared about was finding out the truth about his father and why his mother wouldn't tell him anything.

_You're out there somewhere, and I _will_ find you._ He thought, glaring at his reflection in the window.

"Hey Mike? Are you paying attention?"

The blonde jumped slightly, drawing himself out of his thoughts. It was then that he noticed that it had stopped raining, and all that remained on the window were leftover rain droplets. Turning his head from the window, Mike saw Scott looking back at him from over his shoulder.

Mike chuckled weakly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Uh s-sorry, I kinda zone out there for a moment. What were you saying just now?"

Scott raised an eyebrow at the blonde. Shrugging his shoulders, Scott turned his eyes back to the controls. He couldn't tell whether Mike was being serious or if he was purposely ignoring them. Well either way, he had the half-Italian half-Japanese teen's attention now.

"I said, we'll be landing very soon." Scott repeated simply. "Everything okay back there? You've been pretty quiet for quite a while now."

Mike looked out his window and sure enough he could see the shoreline of the eastern coast of the United States. From what he could see, they were flying high above a cornfield in the countryside.

Mike shrugged off the brunette's concerns. "It's probably just jet lag."

Scott seemed to buy that and let the matter drop, much to the blonde's relief. Leaving him to go back to his own thought, Mike soon thought about how he would be in a new environment any minute now. In a place filled other hormonal mutant teenagers and a group of absolute strangers, who he had just met not even three hours ago.

_I'm doomed_. He groaned.

(-)

_I'm doomed_. Rogue thought sourly.

Today was the day of her huge biology midterm exam, an exam that she had spent the last three days studying for. And here she was, falling **asleep** right in the middle of it!

All because of that annoying roommate of hers, who wouldn't shut up about the new student. This was a very important test for Rogue, and apparently that didn't seem to sink into that empty waste of space her roommate called a brain.

_I'm guessing the phrase, 'Shut up, or I'll go vamp on you' must be some kind of foreign language to her_. She mused, darkly. She angrily shaded in the answer bubble on the scantron sheet for question twelve. _Oh for god's sake, what am I stupid? I'd fail this exam for sure, if I had to listen to her airheaded blabbering in my head_.

Briefly thinking back to last night, Rogue had been sitting at her desk studying, while the petite brunette talked a mile a minute about the new 'European hottie' that the Professor went to recruit. She really couldn't care less about the valley girl's incessant babbling, but after awhile it was starting to get irritating.

She sighed to herself tiredly.

Quickly thumbing through the exam pages, she smirked to herself smugly. She knew most of the material on here, all except maybe five or six questions near the end that she couldn't answer completely. But she had this midterm in the bag! Briefly going back to answer sheet, she noticed a pattern in her answers. The last four questions she had answered were all choice _B_.

_I don't know if this Prof. is in love with letter B or I'm probably just seeing things._ Rogue scoffed, rolling her eyes. Filling in the next three answers, Rogue glanced at the clock out of the corner of her eye.

It read 10:20. Good that gave her another thirty four minutes left to finish the test before lunch. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a few students who were still struggling with the first two pages. She whizzed through the remaining multiple choice with relative ease, before flipping to the final page of the midterm. The last few questions were write a paragraph to answer the question.

She frowned, reading the first question. _I may not be able to answer them completely, but at least I can get partial credit for putting something down._

Rogue spent the next twenty minutes scribbling down as much as she could remember for each question. It was better than leaving them blank, and getting no credit at all. With a tired sigh, Rogue put her pen down and went to inspect her work. After quickly double checking her answers, Rogue flipped the answer sheet over and set it down in the top right corner of her desk.

She watched blankly as her biology teacher picked up her exam and scantron, taking them up to her desk at the front of the room. Placing the test on her desk, the thirty year old teacher skimmed through her answers with a neutral look.

Glancing up at the clock on the side of the room, she turned her dark brown eyes to the rest of the class. "Alright class, it's just about 10:40. For the ones that aren't done, you only have about fourteen or so minutes left to finish your exams."

The southern teen sighed to herself and leaned back in her chair, waiting to be dismissed for lunch. Turning her gaze from her desk to the front of the room; she locked eyes with the biology teacher, who motion with her head for her to go.

"Good ahead, Rogue." She said, a small smile on her lips.

Sending the teacher a grateful smile, Rogue wordlessly slid out of her seat and made a beeline for the door.

_Adios suckers_. Rogue thought, closing the door to the biology room behind her.

After making a quick stop at her locker, the Goth teen calmly made her way to the lunch room. Along the way, she passed one of math rooms where she saw Bobby sitting with his head face down on his desk. The southern teen watch the elderly math teacher walk over to the dirty blonde teen's desk.

She heard the loud snapping sound of a ruler hitting flesh, and a loud pain filled yelp fill the air. The dirty blonde teen's head shot up from his desk, gingerly cradling his now stinging wrist with a pain filled grimace. The southern belle chuckled to herself as she continued on down the hall.

"Poor sap, that'll teach ya to sleep in class." She smirked darkly. Rogue made a mental note to tease the ice making prankster about his 'beauty' mark later.

The halls were quiet for the most part, aside from the occasional squeaking noises from her shoes sliding against the polished floor. It seemed like she was the only one currently wandering around the hallowed halls of Bayville High.

Walking down the ramp leading towards the cafeteria, Rogue saw a group of jocks surrounding a cowering teen over in the far corner of the hall.

"Bunch of jackasses, and here I thought the Brotherhood were the only scumbags around here." Rogue scoffed, glaring daggers at their backs. Picking on someone else just because they had their own insecurities, the very thought of it made her skin crawl.

She opened her mouth to yell at them, but someone beat her too it. The cluster of jocks made a break for it when they heard the shouts of Principal Kelly, who had happened to be walking by. She watched the principal hurry to where the teen that was currently curled up on the floor.

Rogue shot the poor teen a small look of sympathy as Principal Kelly helped the shaken teen to his feet. She knew that teen, he was a member of the school's drama and musical club. The southern teen watched Principal Kelly help the teen limp down towards the nurse's office.

She took this as her cue to continue on her way, before Principal Kelly saw her and demanded an explanation on why she didn't find a teacher sooner.

The brunette girl took the nearest corner, and walked down a small hallway to the cafeteria. Just as she set foot into the cafeteria, the bell signaling the end of Fourth Period went off. The southern teen winced as the shrill ringing filled the once silence room. The sound echoed off the hallowed walls making it louder, than it normally was.

She chose a small area in the corner, after paying for her lunch and sat in silence as students filed in the cafeteria. Picking at her food lazily, she spotted Kurt, Bobby and Kitty out of the corner of her eye heading towards her. Judging from the annoyed look on Kurt's face, she could only assume that it was the valley girl's doing.

"Alright Kitty, we get it!" Kurt huffed, taking his seat next to the southern belle. Bobby sat on the opposite side of the table in front of Rogue, while Kitty took the other spot next to him facing the German teen. "You're _very_ excited about the new student, can we stop talking about it?"

Rogue scoffed, elbowing the dark haired teen beside her. "You have no right to complain fuzz ball. You're not her roommate, so you didn't have to hear her blabbering about it for _half_ the night. So, stuff it blue."

"Well, excuse me for, like, only being excited about having a new student!" The petite girl snorted angrily. The three other teens rolled their eyes at her, clearly exasperated with her.

Bobby snorted. "Yeah, but you don't have to shove it down our throats. Besides have you ever stopped to consider that this person might not want to join?"

"Besides, if I hear you say another word about it, I won't hesitate to go vamp on you." Rogue stated calmly.

But the threat in her voice was clear as day. Kurt and Bobby shifted nervously in their seats. Everyone knew that when the southern teen made threats, she always made sure to keep them.

"Alright, fine. I won't, like, talk about it anymore." Kitty muttered, letting out a defeat huff. She then stabbed her fork into her salad.

The three teens let out a collective sigh of relief, watching the petite girl stab at her food with such newfound ferocity. They went back to eating their respective lunches in silence, vaguely listening to the other teens in the cafeteria chatter abut the latest gossip.

They sat there for the longest time without saying anything until Bobby finally broke it.

"Hey, does anyone know when the Professor will be getting back from Europe?" He asked, wiping the grease off his fingers.

Rogue put her fork down and reached for a napkin to wipe her mouth. "The heck if I know snow cone. I wasn't exactly paying attention last night."

"I think Scott said it wouldn't take them that long." Kurt supplied nonchalantly. "Watch they'll be back way before nightfall.

"Wonder what kind of powers the newbie's got?" Bobby mused aloud, munching a handful of chips. "I hope they have cool ice powers like me."

Kurt groaned irritably, while Rogue shot a withering look in Bobby's direction. The dirty blonde teen visibly paled under her harsh glare.

"Yeah just what we, like, need another person making corny ice puns." Kitty quipped, stabbing at her salad again. Her head shot in annoyance. "Hey! If I'm not allowed to, like, talk about it then why is Bobby allowed?"

"Cause Bobby doesn't know when to keep his dumb mouth shut." Rogue snapped, kicking the boy's leg hard under the table.

"Ow!" He yelped, shooting Rogue an angry glare.

The southern belle smirked.

"So Rogue," Kurt cut in, before it could escalate any further. "How'd you do on your biology midterm?"

The southern brunette rolled her eyes. "For the most part it was a piece of cake. There were maybe five or six questions that I couldn't answer completely. Other than that it was fine."

"Be happy that you're actually passing biology." Bobby groaned miserably. Kitty reached over, lightly rubbed his shoulder in a soothing manner.

"Have you, like, tried asking Mr. McCoy or Jean for help?" She suggested helpfully. "I'm pretty sure they'll be more, than willing to help."

"I really thought that if I did really well on the last test, I'd be finally out of the D range. But I really bombed it badly." Bobby sighed tiredly. He laid his head on smooth wood of the table, letting the cool surface soothe the oncoming headache forming behind his eyes.

"Bobby, just ask Mr. McCoy for help." Kurt retorted, reaching over to pat the other boy's shoulder. "There's no harm in asking for help, especially if you're struggling."

Bobby sighed in defeat. "All right, I'll ask him."

The four teens quietly went back to their lunches, leaving their table once again in silence. That is, until Rogue saw Bobby gingerly rubbing at a small patch of bright pink skin on his wrist. An evil filled smirked appeared on her lips as she watched Bobby rub at it.

"Hey Bobby, been meaning to ask ya. How's math class going?"

"...Shut up."

(-)

Rogue slowly dragged herself through the front door of the institute, closing the glass door behind her with a heavy aggravated sigh. That was probably the most **annoying** bus ride of her entire life.

Usually, she and some of the other institute kids caught a ride home with either Scott or Jean. But since they both went with the Professor to recruit some kid in Italy, she and the other students were stuck riding the noisy, overcrowded bus to school.

_The Prof better have a damn good reason for taking the __**both**__ of them with him._ Rogue thought with irritated grumble._ Of all the people to take with him, why did he have to pick the only two students here that can __**drive**__?_

She let out a loud aggravated growl. Slinging her light bag over her shoulder then proceeded to make her way to the stairs.

Just as she got remotely close to the long carpeted staircase, a small brunette preteen came charging down the stairs at a very fast pace. Not far behind him, a reddish brown dog came running down after him and darted past the unsuspecting southern belle. She watched the dog dash down the corridor on the right side of the stair to hallway leading to the large lounge area of the mansion.

_What is it, time to go for a ride in the car again?_ Rogue rolled her eyes.

The stomp grew louder as she turn her head back to the stairs. The southern teen watched the smaller brunette skip steps before he clumsily stepped on an untied shoelace. He easily lost his balance and went flying downward towards the ground, but Rogue was ready for him.

Throwing her backpack to the side, she positioned herself to catch the shrieking preteen before he could face planted onto the carpeted floor below. He fell into her open arms, sending the two teens falling backwards onto the carpeted floor.

Rogue landed on her butt with a small thud, holding the trembling preteen in her arms. ...Well, better make that **two** trembling preteens in her arms.

The two identical boys lifted their heads from her shoulders, smiling timidly at the southern belle.

"T-thanks for catching me, or err u-us." They said timidly.

The southern belle scowled disapprovingly at them. "Jamie, what did the Professor tell ya about running down the stairs?"

The two Jamies looked down timidly. "...Sorry."

The southern teen sighed. Not a lot of people knew it, but she had a soft spot for the smaller brunette. He was like the little brother she never had.

"Just try not to do it again, okay sugar?" She said, ruffling the boys' hair.

The two boys nodded nervously. They looked at each other for a moment before one absorbed the other one back into his body. Pushing out of Rogue's arms, Jamie pushed himself to stand up on wobbly legs. He reached out to help the older teen up off the floor.

"So, what's got you and teen wolf in such a big hurry?" She asked, accepting the hand up. She grabbed her previously forgotten backpack and slung it over her shoulder.

An excited smile appeared on the younger teen's face. He took the southern belle's gloved hand, pulling on it eagerly. "The Professor and the others just got back! Come on, the Professor wants us to show him around!"

_Oh for god's sake, how did I get roped in playing tour guide?_ Rogue groaned, allowing Jamie to pull her along.

They went down the corridor that Rahne disappeared down towards the living room. She half-heartedly listened to the smaller brunette talking about the new person. Personally, she really couldn't care less about this new recruit. So this person was from Europe?

_Wow, big flipping deal. I don't see why Kitty is making such big deal over nothing really_. She thought, rolling her eyes.

The southern belle continued to walk, until she could see Rahne outside the door to the living room, still in her canine form. The two teens joined her outside the closed door as Jamie let go of Rogue's gloved hand and rapped his knuckles lightly on the dark wooden door.

When they didn't receive an answer right away, Rogue took this as her cue to knock loudly on the door. Jamie and Rahne winced as the southern belle's impatient knocking.

"Come in, no need to knock it down." came the tired reply.

Rogue grabbed onto the handle, twisting the knob and pushed the door open. Rahne darted into the room as soon as the door was opened wide enough. While Jamie and Rogue walked into the room at a much slower pace.

Rogue immediately saw someone in the center of the room talking quietly with Charles about something she couldn't make out. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Scott and Jean discussing something by a nearby bookshelf.

It was then that the newcomer paused in mid-sentence, turning his head to look at the three new arrivals. He studied them with a blank expression, almost assessing them for any kind of threat. Rogue stopped short when the blonde's icy blue orbs locked directly onto her.

"Hello, and who might you be?"

* * *

6/13/12

Chapter 3 revisions have been made, and double checked. This only leaves chapters 4 & 5 to be looked over and evaluated. I already have an idea about what I want to put down for chapter 6, so please bear with me just a little longer. This currently the longest chapter in the story so far at **6,478** words.

Until next time.

-Cyprin-san.


	4. Chapter 4

**Updated Author Note** (6/13/12)

I've gone through and found a few things that needed some tweaking and adding. If this keeps going smoothly, then chapter 6 will be easier for me to write.

Old responses to previous reviews:

**BlAcKpUp40** - I'm really glad you like it, there's still more to come!

**Mizuki99** - I'm glad you like it! I try to keep it close to the original storyline as much as possible, while adding a few things for my story. Thank you; you're probably the first person to actually compliment my writing. You have my eternal gratitude!

* * *

Rogue stared back at the icy blue orbs that were carefully studying her with mild interest. She gave him a small once over, while he did the same to her and Jamie. It was then that she noticed his pale complexion. His pale white skin tone seem to complement his pale blonde hair and icy blue eyes. To the southern belle, he almost appeared to be sickly and fragile, except his eyes told her an entirely different story. It was just a mask for his true self.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but didn't most European have some color to their skin? ...Wait where did that come from? She quickly shook her head to clear her head of the thought.

_Great, I'm starting to sound like that annoying valley girl_. Rogue thought with a grimace.

Although, now that she thought about it, this guy had a rather interesting choice in clothes. He wore a black and gray plaid button up with the sleeved rolled up to his elbows, and a slim white tie around his neck. Over the button up was a black waistcoat vest that was buttoned up all the way. For pants, the blonde wore a pair of black corduroys that kept with the rest of his dark shaded clothes. Finally on his feet, the pale teen wore a pair of black and white checkered slip on vans.

Charles's gaze moved from the blonde to the three newcomers standing near the door, a small smile came to his face.

"Ah, you three are just in time to meet our newest student. Please allow me to introduce you to Michael Soletta." Charles stated, motioning for them to come met the blonde. The mentioned blonde merely raised a hand, waving half-heartedly at them.

"It's an honor, and pleasure to meet you." He retorted stiffly.

Rogue cocked an eyebrow in surprise. She almost had to strain her ears just to hear him. He spoke in a quiet and calm voice that seemed to almost border on apathetic and boredom. She noted the way his eyes held a faint aura of indifference to them.

"Hi, I'm J-Jamie. Jamie Madrox." Jamie said, offering the blonde a smile. The blonde merely nodded his head in acknowledgement at the small preteen.

"Nice to meet you." He returned civilly. Turning his sights back to Rogue, he cocked an eyebrow at her. "And you are?"

"...Rogue." She retorted curtly.

Rogue knew that she was being kind of rude to the new guy, but there was something about him that she didn't like. The blonde simply nodded, then turned to the wolf sitting on the other side of Jamie.

"Is this another student, Professor?" Mike asked, eyeing the wolf carefully.

"Yes, her name is Rahne Sinclair." Charles answered, having sensed the pale teen's uneasiness. "Rahne, if you wouldn't mind returning to your original form, please. I believe your current form is making our guest feel quite uncomfortable."

The reddish brown wolf let out a small whine, but nodded its head. The blonde's icy blue orbs widened in surprise as the wolf slowly turned into a girl that was about the same size as Jamie. Her hair was reddish brown color that was put up in two pigtails. She wore a green long sleeved shirt and a pair of beige colored jeans. She smiled at the blonde, holding out a hand to him.

"Pleased to meet ya." Rahne said simply.

Mike slowly reached out and shook hands with her. "...Uhh, yeah likewise."

"I take it you aren't used to being around animals, am I right?" She inquired, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"You could say that. My mother has serious allergies. So it's kind of hard to have animals around, without her sneezing up a storm." Mike admitted matter-of-factly. The Scottish girl seemed to buy that, and nodded her in understanding.

Charles took this moment to regain control of the conversation. He looked to the three teens before him. "Now that introductions have been, would you three be so kind as to show Michael around the mansion?"

Rogue mentally groaned to herself. She knew that tone, it meant there was no room for objection or argument. She didn't want to play _tour guide_ for the new guy, especially after just having a stress filled day at school.

"Actually professor, I was wondering if we could post pone the tour for now." The blonde spoke up suddenly. This caught Rogue's attention, was he trying to help her get out of playing tour guide? Not that she was complaining though. "I have a lot of things that need to be unpacked, and maybe get to bed early tonight."

Charles nodded, noting the weary look of fatigue in his eyes. "Perhaps that would be for the best, I suppose we could save the tour for tomorrow after you get some rest."

"I believe that would be best." Mike agreed. He looked at the three teens, giving them a slight nod. "It was really nice meeting you three."

The telepath smiled, turning his attention to his eldest student in the corner. "Scott, could you please show Michael the way to his room? Most of his belongings should be up there already."

"Yeah sure, no problem."

Motioning for the blonde to follow him, Scott walked with him to the door and into the hall. Mike slipped out the door silently behind him, leaving the room in silence. The southern teen stared at the door for a brief moment.

Charles turned to address the remaining teens in the room. "While Scott helps Michael find his room, I need to go and take care of a few things in my office. I'll see you all later tonight at dinner."

With that, he wheeled himself over to the door and out into the hallway. The two young preteens quickly left the room to enjoy the rest of their afternoon before dinner. Rogue waited for the door close behind them, before taking a seat on the arm of the nearest couch.

Rogue snorted. "Well, ain't he a bundle of sunshine?"

"I don't know Rogue, you two seem to have that in common." Jean teased lightly.

Rogue shot the red head a glare. "...Shut it, red."

(-)

The blonde fell onto his new bed with a tired sigh. Scott had just left a few minutes ago, saying that he needed to go and check on something important. Mike let his gaze wander to the boxes in the corner of the room that Scott helped him move earlier.

It wasn't much really, just a few things he took from his room back home. He could unpack them later on, when he had a bit more energy.

_Place reminds me of home_. He thought, glancing around the room.

The room was a little bit smaller than his back home, but it was still a good size. It had one bed, a dresser, with a good size closet and a glass door leading to a balcony that provided him with a view of the backyard.

_Just needs some white paint, a white rug and it'll look just like a prison in no time._ The blonde snorted.

Lolling his head to the side, he spotted one of his suitcases in the farthest corner of the room. He really didn't feel like moving from his current position, but he needed to get some unpacking done. With a tired groan, he pushed himself up with his elbows and slowly swung his legs off the mattress. He sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing at his tired eyes.

"I don't suppose you could magically fly over here." The blonde muttered, glaring at the suitcase. He stared at it for a moment, thinking back to what happened at in the auditorium. "...If I can send that stool flying, maybe I can move this too."

He reached out to the suitcase with his hand. "Well, only one way to find out."

Mike tried to focus on the black and gray leather case, hoping to at least move it towards him without it going airborne. He patiently waited for the surge of energy that he felt earlier to rush into his fingers. ...But it never came.

"Are you friggin kidding me?" Mike scoffed, glaring daggers at the case. "It never works when I **want** it to, but does when I **don't** want it to."

The blonde huffed angrily, jumping to his feet to grab it himself. His previous fatigue evaporated instantly as he crossed the room to snatch up the suitcase's handle. As his pale fingers wrapped around the leather handle, a sharp burning sensation shot through his fingers.

"For god sake, make up your friggin mind!" The blonde snapped, ripping his hands off the handle. The burning sensation stopped as soon as it started, leaving his fingers completely numb.

_Calm down Soletta._ He thought, gingerly rubbing his fingers. _Take deep breaths, just stay calm._

He took a few deep breaths, just letting it in and out, until he felt himself regain his composure. Picking up the suitcase with his left hand, Mike made the short walk to the bed and gently placing it on the bedcovers.

"See? There's no reason to get mad over something you can't control." He mused, reaching for silver zipper.

He slowly unzipped it, but before he could get any farther it snagged on a corner. Mike sighed and pulled the zipper back, before trying another attempt only for it snag again.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" The blonde sneered, trying to force the zipper open. After a few failed attempts, the pale teen started shouting curse words in Italian at the leather case. He gave up after a while, glaring angrily at the stupid zipper.

"Piece of sh-"

Without warning, a bolt of black energy shot off the blonde's palm and struck his suitcase causing the zipper to burst open. The blonde watched in horror as his clothes went flying everywhere around the room. When everything settled, it looked like a tornado went through the room.

"...That's one way to unpack." Mike muttered, reaching down to pick up the purple plaid button up by his foot.

He folded the long sleeve shirt half-heartedly, before putting it on his dresser. Mike proceeded to pick up and fold his clothes, either placing them on his dresser or in the closet.

The pale teen took one last look around for any clothes that he might have missed. He didn't exactly bring that much with him. The half Italian half Japanese teen only packed what he thought was absolutely necessary for him to bring along. If he needed to go buy something, maybe he could ask Scott or Jean to take him to the nearest store or mall.

He spotted a black long sleeve shirt with thin gray stripes in the corner, laying on one of the boxes. He moved to go and pick it up, but stopped short after realizing something.

_No, he said I'm here to learn to control this._ He thought, remembering the Professor's words from earlier. _This is my chance to learn and experiment at my _own_ pace_.

The blonde focused his attention on the shirt, taking in the detail of black material. He reached out a hand at his chosen object, clearing his mind of everything else. Unlike the last few times, the rush of energy seemed to come almost instantaneously.

"Oh, _now_ you start working when I need you to." Mike said, smirking at the wisps of black energy that outlined his pale hand. His smirk grew wider when he noticed that the shirt was outline with the same black energy.

With a small flick of his wrist, the shirt levitated off the box and moved towards him. It stopped a few inches in front of him. He reached out to grab it, the black glow faded from the fabric as it fell limp in his hand.

_This is beyond weird_. He thought, turning his head to the closet. Looking between to shirt in his hand the open closet, an idea popped in his head.

Holding his left hand out to the closet, the blonde eyed a hanger on the rack. It rattled faintly, then slowly lifted itself off the rack and moved towards him. When it got close enough, he made a stop motion to leave it floating in front of him.

He slid the shirt on the wire hanger, and then made a pushing motion with his hand. The hanger moved back into the closet, taking its place back on the metal rack. With a smirk, Mike turned his attention to the door of the closet, using his powers to close it quietly.

_That was rather easy._ He thought, moving back to take a seat on his bed. He plopped down onto the soft mattress, bouncing slightly. The blonde reached down to remove his vans, lightly tossing them to the foot of his bed. "Alright, clothes are done. Now what should I work on nex-"

The blonde groaned loudly at the boxes in the corner. Why in god's name, did he have to bring so much stuff with him?

Mike fell back onto the bed with another groan, his head bounced lightly against the soft mattress. As he lay there looking up at the ceiling, he could feel the iron weight of fatigue slowly pressing down on him. The feeling had come on without warning.

_Jet lag's a bitch_. A voice in his head supplied. The blonde teen snorted, before gazing lazily at the digital clock on the nightstand.

It read 5:30 pm in large angry red numbers.

"Should be 10:30 back home, I would be in bed right now." Mike uttered, rolling his head body to the side.

He winced at the sunlight that shined through his uncovered window, and was currently blinding him with it warm rays. Mike was too tired to get up and pull the shades shut, so he simply rolled his body away from the offending sunlight.

The pale teen let a small sigh of content, slowly letting his eyes drift closed. He could hear the faint chirps of birds as they flew by his window. It wasn't long before the blonde teen fell into a dreamless sleep.

(-)

It was well into the night when Mike finally stirred from his deep sleep. He groaned tiredly to himself, cracking his tired eyes open slowly. If he listened closely, he could hear the very faint sound of rain lightly hitting against his window.

Mike sighed as he listened to the rain, it was almost soothing to listen to. Rubbing the sleep from his tired eyes, the blonde cranked his head to check his alarm clock. Only to regret it seconds later when pain shot up his neck.

The blonde let out a pained hiss, slowly turn his bed back to lessen the pain. He must have sleep wrong, if it was hurting this much. Mike glanced at the clock out of the corner of his right eye.

2:30am.

_Perché diavolo sono io sveglio?_ He thought bitterly.

With another tired groan, the blonde sluggishly pushed himself into a sitting position. He sat there for a few minutes, while trying to resist the urge to lie down and fall back asleep. Mike shook his head trying to shake off the drowsy feeling, then swung his legs over the side of the bed.

He propped his elbows on his knees, so he could hold his pounding head in his hands. Gently massaging his pounding temple, Mike glanced around the darken room to allow his eyes to adjust to the dark room. When they finally did, he reached over to the lamp on the nightstand and felt around it for the light switch.

After a few seconds of fumbling around, he found it and flipped it on without thinking. He was rewarded for his troubles with a flood of bright yellow light. Mike hissed as the change in lighting burned at his icy blue orbs.

"For fu-" The blonde growled, falling back onto the bed.

Without warning the light bulb was outline with black energy and exploded violently, sending glass shards all over the nightstand. Mike jumped feeling tiny stray shards of broken light bulb land on his lap.

_Oookay, that didn't go as planned._ He thought, carefully picking up the shards that he could still make out in the darkness.

Being extremely careful not to cut his fingers or let the small shards fall onto the carpet, Mike gently placed the shards he managed to find on the nightstand. The blonde saw a particularly long, thin shard by his right foot and bent down to carefully pick it up. The pale teen hissed in pain as he missed the shard by a few inches, and sliced the tip of his right index finger.

"Merda!" Mike growled painfully. Quickly placing his bleeding finger to his mouth, hoping to prevent it from dripping on anything.

Pushing himself to stand up on wobbly legs, Mike moved across the room to turn on the overhead light. Luckily there weren't any glass shards on the carpet where he was currently walking. He felt around the wall for light switch, his fingers slowly gliding along the wall. It took about a minute or two, until he finally found the light switch.

Just as he flipped the switch, the pale teen instinctively closed his eyes as the lights flickered to life. He didn't need a repeat of last time, and have a carpet full of broken light bulb shards. After waiting a few minutes, Mike opened his eyes and let them adjust on their own.

"Alright, quick recap. Emotionally driven powers + a light bulb = _bad_." The blonde sighed tiredly. "Light bulb, One. Cranky teenager, Zero."

Leaning against his bedroom door, the half Italian half Japanese teen winced as his hand accidentally hit up against the oak door. He let out a pained hiss, glancing down at the cut. It wasn't deep and was relatively small, but it still stung like hell. For the moment, it had stopped bleeding.

Pushing himself off against the dark wood, Mike opened the door and slipped out into the darkened hallways. He left the door open a crack so he could find his way back to his room. For a moment, he felt along the wall while his eyes adjusted from going a brightly lit room to a darkened hallway.

_Wonder where the bathroom is in this place?_ He mused, passing by a nearby window. The stinging feeling was starting to turn into a very dull throbbing. _I really should wash this out, before it gets infected. Maybe skipping that tour earlier was a bad idea_.

Mike wandered the halls aimlessly for a few minutes, until he arrived at the stairwell leading down into the foyer. The room was illuminated faintly by the pale moonlight shining through the large glass windows. The blonde slowly descended the stairs; the moonlight bathed him in its silver rays.

After reaching the bottom of the stairs, the blonde looked towards the front door. Most of the moonlight was from the front doors. Before he knew it, his body was moving on its own to the glass doors. It was as if the moonlight was enticing him to come closer. As he stopped in front of the door, he was suddenly filled with a sense of peace.

_What is this feeling?_ He thought, staring up at the moon through the glass.

He reached out and placed a hand on the smooth glass of the door. The blonde teen gazed at the dark clouds, as they covered the moon behind their seemingly opaque tresses. As the moonlight faded, so did the sense of peace that filled his body. Slowly dropping his hand from the glass, the pale teen turned his gaze away from the glass.

He had felt this way so many times before, but he couldn't explain it. For as long as he could remember, he had always felt so at ease at night. But never felt this way during the daytime.

_I must be more tired, than I thought_. He sighed mentally.

"What are you doing up?"

The startled teen quickly turned, his back was pressed up against the glass. A dark haired man dressed in a sleeveless white shirt and dark blue jeans was standing by the stairs. He had a scowl on his face, and his arms were crossed over his chest.

"I'll ask you again, bub. What're you doing up?" He asked, again.

"I-I was just looking for the bathroom." Mike stammered nervously. The pale teen hated how nervous and scared his voice sounded.

The dark haired man's scowl seemed to deepen. "Maybe ya didn't notice, but there was a bathroom just two doors down from yours."

"...Oh." Was the blonde's lame response.

The newcomer rolled his dark brown eyes, wordlessly making his way to the blonde teen. The said teen took a step back unconsciously, till his back was flush up against the glass. When he got close enough, the older male reached out and took Mike's right wrist in a firm, but gently grip. Mike winced slightly at the physical contact.

A frown appeared on the man's lips.

"...Uh, excuse me, Mr.-?"

"...Logan." He retorted curtly.

The blonde teen suppressed a weak chuckle at the curt retort. _Simply, and short_. _Not a lot of people jump straight to the point._

"How'd you get that cut?" He asked gruffly.

"I-I was picking up some glass shards, and just sort of cut myself by accident." Mike retorted simply.

Without a word, Logan released the blonde's wrist and motioned for the teen to follow. Logan led the teen down a hallway by the stairs, and stopped at the second door on the right. The dark haired man opened the door wordlessly, and reached inside to flip the light switch on.

Mike winced at the bright light pouring out into the hall. He squinted his eyes to block out the offending light, and give them time to adjust. It took a few seconds, but they finally did adjust. The room was a moderate sized half-bathroom.

"You'll find a bottle of peroxide in the medicine cabinet, and a few band-aids in the second drawer." Logan stated, pointing to where he would find the supplies. "After you're done here, go straight back to your room."

And with that, he turned and walked out without another word. Mike waited until he couldn't hear Logan's footsteps anymore, and then went about grabbing the supplies.

Turning the faucet on low, he waited for the water to reach the right temperature before putting his finger under the running water. Mike watched the dried blood around the cut wash away. He reached over for the brown peroxide bottle, titling it to pour a small amount on his cut.

Mike hissed when it poured into the broken skin, cleaning it of any bacteria that might have got in. The stinging only lasted for a few seconds. He turned the faucet off with his left hand, and dried the other with a hand towel. After making sure it was completely dry, he picked up the band-aid that he left on the counter and wrapped it around his finger.

Quickly cleaning up his mess, the blonde placed the peroxide bottle back and flipped the light switch off on his way out. Making his way back to the stairs, he stopped for a moment. The pale moonlight was shining through the doors again. It was as if the pale light was calling for him.

The blonde stared at it longingly, wanting nothing more than to be under the moon's pale silver light. He felt one foot step forward on its own accord towards the door. That's when he came back to his senses, and shook his head violently to clear his mind.

_No. Remember what Logan told you, go straight back to bed._ He thought, taking in a sharp breath.

Mike turned on his heel and all, but ran to the stairs to get away from the alluring moonlight. After quickly rushing up the stairs, the blonde avoided any and all windows on the trek back to his room. Lucky for him, the clouds had chosen that moment to block out the moon again. The rest of the time walking back to his room was spent in silence, aside from the occasional sound of the wind outside.

Turning the corner, he could see the faint light emitting from his bedroom door. The pale teen, unconsciously, picked up the pace to return his room. Quickly opening the door and stepping inside, Mike closed it softly behind him.

_I think I've had enough adventures for one day, thank you very much!_ Mike sighed, pressing his back against the closed door.

With another heavy sigh, Mike went to get a pair of pajamas from his dresser. Settling on a white long sleeve shirt and pair of black pajama pants, the blonde stripped off his wrinkled clothes. Tossing them on the clothes hamper, Mike silently slipped into his sleep wear and turned off the lights.

He moved to his bed, and promptly collapsing onto the soft mattress. Rolling onto his side, the pale teen glanced at the clock again.

2:50am.

With a tired sigh, Mike crawled under the covers and laid his head onto the soft pillow. He just laid there for a minute then closed his eyes, and immediately felt the tug of sleep pulling at him.

_I'll just close my eyes for a little while, yeah just for a little bit._ He told himself.

(-)

The alarm blared loudly, bringing the slumbering blonde back into the waking world. With an aggravated growl, Mike slammed his palm on the infernal device and silenced its annoying ringing. Letting out a relieved sigh, Mike burrowed back into the warm blankets to get a few more minutes of sleep.

Just as he was on the verge of falling back into sleep's sweet embrace, a loud rapping came from his bedroom door. Mike groaned tiredly into his pillow. What was with this place? Didn't anyone believe in sleeping in around here?

The knocking started up again, but a lot louder this time. Mike kicked off the covers with a scoff. Glaring at the door with a wither look, the blonde spared a quick glance at the clock.

9:32 am.

Normally on the weekends, he would sleep in until ten. _Guess I don't have that luxury anymore._

He forced his body into sitting position, rubbing the sleep from his tired eyes. Swinging his legs off the bed, Mike stretched his tired limbs and went over to open the door. Putting on his iciest glare, he twisted the knob and almost yanked the door off its hinges. It was the same kid from yesterday, oh what was his name again? Jimmy? James? Jamie? Jamie, that's it!

"What?" The blonde snapped tiredly. He immediately winced at the unintentional snap in his voice. Luckily, Jamie didn't pick up on his angry tone.

"Morning, Mike!" Jamie smiled warmly.

_Are you friggin kidding me? How can he be so cheery this early in the morning? _Mike thought, allowing the young brunette entrance to his room. Jamie gave him a brilliant smile, and walked into the blonde's room. "...Yeah, morning. What can I do for you?"

The young brunette merely smiled and reached out to grab the blonde's hand, pulling it eagerly. "The Professor asked me to come get you. He wants to meet with you, before your big Danger Room session!"

_My Danger what?_ Mike thought, letting Jamie pull him to the door. The two teens quickly made their way down the hall. Mike looked at the young boy currently pulling on his hand.

The preteen was smiling like a little kid in a candy store. Now that he thought about it, there was something about this kid. He reminded him of himself when he was younger.

"Say, Jamie where are we going?" Mike asked, keeping the nervousness out of his voice. He nearly got lost in these hallways a few hours ago, now Jamie was taking him somewhere completely new.

"We're heading for the sub-basement, of course!"

"...Sub-basement?" The blonde rolled his eyes._ This place just gets weirder and weirder_.

The two teens stopped in front of an elevator. Mike watched Jamie press a few buttons, the doors open up with a small hiss. How had he missed this last night?

The two stepped into the small elevator, the doors closed behind them with another hiss. The blonde teen leaned against the railing, feeling the elevator begin its descent.

"So, I heard from the Professor that you're from Italy, right?" Jamie asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

"...Uh, yeah." The blonde answered, shifting his feet nervously.

The small brunette smiled. "So, what part of Italy exactly?"

_He sure is a talkative one_. Mike thought, suppressing a smile. "Well, I was born and raised in Rome." He wasn't really used to talking to people, aside from his family and the staff that works for his mother.

Jamie paused to think of another question. "What's it like to live in Italy?"

"...Uh, it's nice. It's just a little on the hot side, though." The blonde said. He sighed, rubbing at his wrist tiredly. _Was I this talkative at his age?_

"I'm guessing you don't like the heat?" Jamie chuckled nervously. "Anyway, I hope you like it here at the Institute."

"Thanks, Jamie." Mike smiled.

The elevator jerked to a stop as it reached its destination. The doors opened again with a low hiss. Mike was the first one to step out of the elevator, but stopped to stare at the metallic blue hallways in surprise. Jamie watched the older teen look around him, the elevator doors hissed closed behind them. The blonde teen walked over to the nearest wall, running his finger along the smooth blue metal.

Jamie smirked at the blonde as he dropped his hand from the wall. "Pretty amazing, isn't it?"

Mike nodded in agreement, turning his gaze to look down the hall. His eyes caught sight of a circular door at the end of the hall. He stared at the door blankly, as if he was in a trace. He felt his body move on its own, moving down the hall at a slow pace.

Jamie stared nervously at the blonde's back. "H-Hey, Mike?"

Mike was walking towards a certain door. A door that was labeled as off-limits to most people at the Institute. The Professor had told him to avoid that room all together. He couldn't let the blonde get in trouble on his first day. Professor Xavier would be so mad, if he let Mike get any closer to that door.

The blonde was about halfway to the door. Something about this door was calling to him, but he could explain why.

_Where are you going?_ The blonde quickly snap out of his trance.

He felt something pulling on his arm. Mike jumped in surprise, turned his head to see Jamie holding his wrist. Did he really just space out for a moment?

"Mike? Are you alright?" The preteen asked, worried for the older teen.

"...Uh yeah." He answered, offering Jamie a small smile. "I just spaced out there for a minute, forgive me."

"That area of the sub-basement is off-limits to everyone, but the Professor and the instructors." Jamie explained, shifting nervously. "Professor Xavier told us to stay away from that particular door."

"I see, thanks for the warning." Mike muttered, turning to follow Jamie.

Jamie led him down the hallway again, stopping at another circular door with an X design on the other end of the hall. The door opened when the teens approached it, a large empty locker room greeted them. There were eight rows of long teal colored gym lockers. Jamie motioned for the blonde to follow him over to the third row, stopping at the last one on the left.

"This is locker here yours." Jamie reached for the metal tab, pulling it up then pulled the door open. "Inside is a standard training suit and towel, in case you want to shower after a long session."

Mike glanced at the locker next to his, then the one on the other side of the aisle. The one next to his read, _Iceman_ on a small gray strip of metal, while the other one read, _Multiple_ on it. Was this really standard for students at the Xavier Institute?

Jamie saw the blonde's confused look, and smiled happily. "Judging by the look on your face, the Professor never told you that we use codenames around here. Am I right?"

_Codenames?_ Mike thought, looking at the gray tab on his own locker. Unlike the others, it didn't have anything on it._ Why would we need codenames? I thought we were just here to learn about our powers?_

Jamie laughed lightly to when the blonde raised an eyebrow. "We have codenames because of our unique powers. Mine for example is Multiple, in part because I can do this!"

Jamie reached over to his locker, gently hitting the back of his hand on the door. Mike jump when he saw an exact copy of the preteen standing in front of him. The two Jamies grinned brilliantly at the pale teen.

"So, what do you think?" They asked simultaneously.

Mike simply stared at them blankly.

"...You think it's dumb, don't you?" Jamie frowned, absorbing his clone without much trouble. He looked down at his feet sadly, thinking that the blonde was going to laugh at him.

The preteen jumped when he felt a hand gently placed on his shoulder. Looking up at the older teen, he saw the blonde teen was smiling at him.

"How can you even think that?" He asked, wrapping an arm around the brunette's shoulder. "Jamie, it's not dumb at all. Out of all the powers I've seen so far, I would rather have yours."

Jamie looked confused. He probably had the lamest power in the entire Institute. Everyone else had way better powers, like Bobby, Kurt and Ms. Monroe for example. "What? Why?"

Mike paused to think for a moment, pondering on what to say. "Well, think about it this way. With your powers, you can create your own personal army. Just think about what you can do with a power like that." Reaching out, the blonde gently ruffled the boy's hair. The preteen laughed at the gesture.

"Hey, what kind of powers do you have?" Jamie asked, curiously. Mike winced, immediately looking down at his feet.

"...Uh, about that. To be completely honest, I'm not exactly sure myself." Mike said, shifting nervously. "From what I can tell, I can manipulate some form of dark energy and something with gravity."

Jamie looked at him with confused look. "You can manipulate gravity? That's so amazing! I wish I could do that!"

Mike chuckled lightly, ruffling Jamie's hair affectionately. He like this kid already, and knew that they'd get along just fine. Reaching into his locker, Mike grabbed the training uniform, before making his way to the changing room. Closing the door behind him, Mike took off his pajamas and pulled on the uniform. Putting the gloves, belt and boots on last, the blonde stepped out of the stall to look at himself in a nearby mirror.

The uniform itself was mostly navy blue, while the gloves, belt and boots were a light blonde scoffed at his reflection. _Seriously, navy blue and yellow? Can this look any stupider on me?_

Mike heard a faint stifled giggle behind him. He saw Jamie's reflection in the mirror, trying hold in his laughter with his hand over his mouth. He shot the younger boy a look from his spot in front of the mirror.

"What's so darn funny, Madrox-kun?" Mike asked, turning to face the brunette preteen.

"Oh, it's nothing." Jamie laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Mike smirked at him, mischievously. "Sou ka?"

"Hey, what does that mean?" Jamie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mike merely smiled and shook his head. Making his way back to the entrance of the locker room, he simply patted Jamie on the shoulder and walked passed him. Jamie watched him head for the exit, before running after him. The young brunette led him to the door adjacent to the locker room. The door itself was very similar to the elevator that they had used earlier.

"This leads to the Danger Room control room." Jamie explained, reaching over to press the down arrow. "The Professor should be waiting for us down there."

Mike simply nodded. _It's now or never, you can do this._

* * *

7/17/12

This marks the end of chapter 4 revisions, and all that's left is to lightly touch up Chapter five, this chapter tops chapter three's previous status of having the most words. Chapter four now holds the most number of words at **6,703**. I am aware that the revision process is taking a long time, but I simply want to improve the quality of the story. Please be patience.

Until next time,

-Cyprin-san.

Translations:

**Italian**:

_**Perché diavolo**__**sono io**__**sveglio?**__/_Why the hell am I awake?

_**Merda**_/Shit

**Japanese**:

_**Sou ka?**_

**そうか****?**

**(Is that so?)**

**-Kun**

**くん**

This is used by anyone when addressing or referring to male children or male teenagers. It can also be used by females when addressing a male that they are emotionally attached to, or have known for a long period of time. Although _kun_ is generally used for boys.


	5. Chapter 5

Update Author Note (7/17/12)

I've made some more revisions to this chapter. The overall bulk of this chapter remains the same, but with some changes to it. This really shouldn't take all that long. Chapter 6 should be finished hopefully soon as well.

* * *

Mike stared at the elevator doors nervously, for some reason he couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness that plagued him. The more Mike thought about it, the more he felt uneasy. What was this Danger Room actually like? From what Jamie told him, the good Professor used it to help his students learn about their powers. A thought just occurred to him, why would someone as young as Jamie need to train?

He spared a quick glance at the brunette boy standing next to him. Jamie was smiling at the door, waiting for it to hurry up and open already. The blonde simply smiled to himself. They stepped into the elevator when its doors opened with dull hiss.

"Ready?" Jamie asked, smiling.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Mike muttered, leaning against the metal railing.

Briefly glancing around the small elevator, Mike turned his gaze to the preteen again. There was something about this kid standing beside him. He barely knew him, but he felt surprisingly comfortable around him. The blonde teen couldn't explain it.

_Maybe it's just my imagination?_ He thought.

Turning his gaze from the younger teen, the blonde found himself staring down at boots he was currently wearing. Would it kill them to pick any other color beside yellow? He could feel Jamie's eyes on him. Needless to say, it was making the blonde feel slightly uncomfortable.

"...Is something wrong?" He asked, looking at the young boy from the corner of his eye.

Jamie shook his head. "N-No, I was just wondering. Are you nervous about your Danger Room session?"

"Well, maybe just a little. With a name like the 'Danger Room', what's not to be worried about?" The blonde chuckled tiredly. Leaned his head back against the metal wall, he sighed. "To be completely honest Jamie, I'm not sure if I want to do this."

"...You okay?" Jamie asked, almost sensing his apprehension.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." Mike lied, avoiding his gaze. The blonde jumped when he felt the younger teen wrap his arms around him.

"...You'll be fine, don't worry."

Mike froze. The younger teen hugged Mike around the middle, offering him an encouraging smile. Before he knew it, the blonde found himself returning the hug. At that moment, he finally realized what the strange feeling from earlier really was. Was this what it was like to have a friend?

"Thanks, Jamie."

The elevator reached its destination as the two teens pulled away. The blonde stepped out into a small circular room filled with various monitors and machines. He could see the Professor off to the side talking with someone he wasn't familiar with. Sensing that they had company, the two adults turned to see Jamie leading Mike over.

"Ah, hello Michael." Charles greeted smiling. "I apologize for doing this so early in the morning, but I thought we could get a head start on learning the basics of your powers. Thank you for your help Jamie."

"It was my pleasure, Professor." The preteen grinned.

"Hello, Professor Xavier." Mike greeted quietly.

"Did you have any problems sleeping last night?" Charles asked kindly. He took in the blonde's overall appearance, noting the small bags under his eyes.

"Not really. I only woke up once last night, but went right back to bed." Mike retorted, leaving out the part of his moonlit stroll last night.

Charles simply smiled at him. "I'm glad to hear that. How are you today?"

"I'm not sure, really." Mike admitted sheepishly. "The whole being able to generate dark energy still kinda freaks me out. But the idea of being able to control gravity terrifies me."

The Professor nodded, knowingly. "That's understandable."

Mike turned his head to look at the person standing next to the Professor. She was a tall woman with long stark white hair, light blue eyes and mocha colored skin. She wore a white sleeveless blouse, a long purple skirt and dark brown sandals. What really caught his attention was the variety of different earth tones that comprised her outfit. They complemented her dark complexion perfectly.

She offered him a warm smile. "You must be Michael Soletta. You're just as handsome as Jean said you were."

He felt himself blush. "Uh, t-thank you. ...And you are?"

"My name is Ororo Munroe. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." She extended a hand out to him. "I'm one of the instructors here at the Institute."

He reached out to shake her hand. "It's nice to meet you too."

"The Professor has told me a little bit about you. I trust that you're enjoying your stay at the institute?" She asked kindly.

"Yes, ma'am." The blonde smiled timidly. "The Institute does seem to be the best place for me, at least for now."

"Now that you are here, I trust that Jamie has informed you as to why I had him bring you down here?" The Professor asked, getting straight to the point.

The blonde nodded.

"I know that it's a little early, but I'd like very much to test your powers." Charles reached over to type something on the console next to him.

"Test my powers, you mean i-in the Danger Room?" Mike asked, shifting his feet awkwardly.

Charles simply nodded. He didn't need his telepathy to tell that the blonde was nervous. "Yes, if it's all right with you."

"...But what if I fail?" Mike looked down at his feet. He didn't even try to hide how nervous he really was.

"Michael, there is no grade for this." Charles reached out to place a hand on Mike's arm. He gave the blonde's arm a reassuring pat. "This is merely a way to measure the full extent of your powers. That way we'll know what your particular needs are, and what we should do to accommodate them."

"Okay, I'll try." Mike sighed. The blonde looked to Jamie, who smiled and gave him a thumps up. "But I'm telling you right now, don't expect much."

Ororo chuckled, reaching out to place hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, child. Just take your time, and do your best. Just remember you can go at your own pace, there's no rush."

"Jamie, would you mind showing Michael to the Danger Room?" Charles turning his attention to the console nearest to him. He typed down a few commands into the computers.

"Sure thing, Professor!" Jamie grinned, eager to be of use.

The young teen grabbed Mike's hand, pulling him eagerly towards the elevator. The blonde allowed the younger teen pull him towards the door. The kid had quite a grip for someone his age. The two adults waited for the elevator to close before exchanging amused looks.

"Ah, friendship." Charles mused, smiling.

"Agreed." Ororo smiled, brushing a loose strand behind her ear. "I'm sure this bonding experience will do them both some good."

The telepath nodded, putting in some last minute commands into the Danger Room's main computer. "Let's just hope for the best."

(-)

Mike stood under the observatory deck, looking around his current surroundings. There really wasn't that much to it. Other than the light fixtures under the observatory, it was just an empty metal room. He looked at the observatory above him. He could see Charles and Ms. Munroe looking back at him from the window. If he squinted hard enough, he could make out Jamie's form standing next to the telepath.

Mike took a few breathes to calm himself. _Okay, remember just keep calm._

It was now or never.

"Okay, we're going to start off with some simple exercises." Charles said calmly. "Let's begin with testing your telekinetic like abilities."

The Danger Room gave off a very faint humming sound. The metal walls changed into a medium sized room with a navy blue tile design. Looking at his new environment briefly, the pale teen turned his attention to the observatory deck. It pretty much remained unchanged. Returning his gaze back to the front, he watched ten wooden boxes finish materializing around him.

Mike took a deep breath before letting it out. "Alright, here goes nothing."

He focused his attention on the first three boxes. He raised his arms out in front of him, slowly closing his eyes. Thinking back to last night, Mike tried picturing the boxes in his mind. He concentrated solely on the first three boxes in front of him. The pale teen could feel the familiar surge of energy pulsing through his fingers. He slowly spread out his fingers, letting the familiar energy surge to his hands. He heard the wooden boxes creak lowly.

He cracked an eye open hesitantly.

Upon seeing the boxes outlined by the familiar black energy, the blonde let out the breath he had unknowingly been holding. Moving his hands in one fluent motion, the boxes trembled slightly and started to float off the ground. He flicked his wrist sharply, sending one box flying through the air and watched it smash up against the far wall.

"Good, now that you've established a link, I want you to try and extend your control to the remaining seven." Charles instructed calmly. He kept a close eye on the monitors that showed the teen's energy output. "While you reach out to the other ones, I want you to try and keep your hold on the ones you already have."

Mike nodded his understanding to them. With his right arm, Mike reached out with his hand and closed his eyes again. Clearing his mind again, he tried picturing the remaining seven with the two already under his influence. The blonde could feel the energy building up in his fingertips. Mike felt the energy spread outwards to his desired targets. He winced slightly as the energy wrapped around the boxes. It almost felt like his limbs were being stretched out. Slowly raising his arm, the remaining boxes soon started to levitate as well.

"Excellent_, __you're making good progress so far._" The telepath praised. He typed something on a nearby keyboard, and quickly glanced at the teen's energy output. The readings so far were good. He had noted a small spike when Mike had reached out to take control of the other boxes.

"So far, so good." The blonde muttered tiredly.

Releasing his hold on the boxes, he watched them fell back to the floor. Mike paused to look at them for a moment. A small smile appeared on his lips as an idea popped into his head. The blonde curled his hand into a tight fist, feeling the dark energy flow into his hand.

Without warning he quickly unclenched his fist, letting the energy fly out of his open palm. The blonde watched as a discharge of black energy struck the boxes closest to him. As soon as the energy made contact with his target, the crates exploded violently.

"Whoa!" Mike yelped in surprise.

He looked down at his hands, watching the dark energy crackle around his fingers.

Taking a quick glance at the remaining boxes around him, the pale teen smirked slyly. Thrusting his arm out to a crate in the corner, the crate levitated towards him. The pale teen sharply on his heels, and threw his arm back before throwing it forward.

The crate flew through the air, just as Mike lifted his other arm up to follow the airborne object. His left hand was glowing with dark wisps of energy, which seemed to crackle around his fingers like small surges of electricity. Without batting an eye at his target, the dark energy shot off his palm and made contact with the crate, causing it to explode.

"He's a natural." Ororo mused, watching yet another crate being destroyed.

Charles nodded in agreement. "Indeed. He's being showing a lot of self control. If he were to practice daily, I'm sure Mr. Soletta shouldn't have that much trouble with controlling his powers. Although, we should still be mindful of his emotional state."

"Why should we do that, Professor?" Jamie asked, speaking up for the first time during the entire session.

"An excellent question Jamie. You see Michael's powers act a lot like Ms. Munroe's. Both of their powers are tied to their current emotional state." Charles explained, typing away at the console in front of him.

The young teen raised an eyebrow raised in confusion. "I thought that applied to all mutants, not just Ms. Munroe?"

The Professor chuckled lightly. "Well, in certain ways it does. But in this case, Michael's powers are directly influence by his emotions. Strong emotions, such as anger or fear, could make him lose control. But at the same time, it's quite possible that his powers will become that much stronger."

"So, if left unchecked, he could lose himself to his powers?" Ororo assumed, keeping an eye on the blonde teen below.

"It's possible, but all we can really do is just ke7ep an eye on him." Charles said, watching the blonde teen as he levitated another wooden crate. He soon made short work of it by quickly clenched his left hand into a fist, causing the crate to be crushed like a soda can.

Mike breathed heavily, wiping some sweat off his forehead with the back of his gloved hand. Glancing down at his hands, the pale teen slowly clenched them into fists. The energy seemed to come on command now, all he had to do was clear his mind. The blonde slowly unclenched his fist, watching the dark energy fade from his hand.

"Not bad for my first try." He chuckled, letting out a small satisfied sigh. The room started to hum again as the destroyed crates faded away. The intercom crackled to life once more, drawing Mike's attention away from his hands.

"Now that we've done some tests with your shadow telekinetic abilities, I believe that it's time to move on to your Gravitokinetic abilities." Charles suggested, typing in a few commands into the Danger Room computer.

The blonde teen raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar word. "Gravitokinetic?"

The telepathy cleared his throat before continuing. "Yes. For this part of the test, we're going to examine your ability to manipulate the gravity around you."

The room started to expand outward, giving the blonde more room to move around. Around him various large and small objects materialized in front of him. Mike looked to at various crates and metal trashcans with a blank expression.

"Now, I want you to try decreasing the amount of gravity of these objects." The telepath said, watching him expectantly.

"Yeah. Easier said, than done." The blonde snorted, under his breath.

The pale teen didn't have much experience with his other power. The dark energy seemed to be the easier one to call on. In theory, it was most likely possible that it could work the same way. He turned his gaze to the trash cans.

_If that was the case, then maybe it just might work._ He thought. Closing his eyes once again, the blonde teen breathed in deeply then exhaled quietly. Picturing the trash cans in his mind, he reached out with his left arm and let his fingers spread apart.

At first he didn't feel anything, the usual tingling feeling he got when using the dark energy didn't come. The blonde's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. He tried again, but got the same results a few seconds later. He had pictured the trash cans in his head, but the energy wouldn't come.

_Wait a minute_. The blonde thought, opening his eyes slowly._ Maybe_ _just thinking about them isn't enough._

An idea popped in his head, instead of simply picturing the trash can in his head, maybe he would have to picture them levitating. He scoffed at the thought, but something in the back of his mind kept nagging him to at least give it a try.

_Worth a shot, I guess._

Closing his eyes again and clearing his mind, Mike imagined the trash cans in his mind. But this time he tried imaging them levitating. Free from the strong pull of the earth's gravity. That's when he felt a very small tingling sensation at his fingertips. It wasn't very strong, but he could still feel it faintly. The more he thought about the feeling of weightlessness, the tingling feeling slowly started to travel up his fingers.

He could faintly hear the trash cans creaking lowly. Cracking an eye open, Mike looked at his hand. The blonde's gloved hand gave off a very faint purple tinted glow. His eyes traveled over to the trash cans. The rusted metal was also giving off a similar purple tinted glow. The pale teen raised his outstretched arm, hesitantly. The trash cans began to rattle lowly, and slowly started to levitate a few inches of the ground.

The blonde teen felt a smug smile tug at his lips.

A small sense of satisfaction swelled in his chest. He actually felt proud of his own personal accomplishments for once. Making a swift motion with his left arm, the metal cans shot into the air and simply levitated in the air. Turning his attention to wood crates, the pale teen made a small waving gesture with his right hand. The purple glow extended itself outwards to the crates. With another small gesture, they also joined the metal cans in the air.

"A little bit more work, than I originally thought. But well worth it." Mike reached up to wipe another bead of sweat from his pale brow. It was then that small wave of dizziness hit him without warning. He stumbled backwards, trying to regain his bearings.

What was that just now? Was it because he tried to control too many objects at once, or was the fatigue from last night finally getting to him? Luckily, the wave of dizziness had stopped as soon as it started.

"Michael, are you alright?" Charles asked concerned.

"Y-Yeah, I just zoned for a minute there." Mike felt himself nod, trying to soothe the small headache that was forming. He ran a shaky hand through his pale hair.

"Are you sure? We can stop here, if you're feeling tired." Charles suggested.

"Professor, I'm fine. Let's just continue, please." The blonde assured, turning his attention back to the task at hand. He was trying very hard to snap in annoyance. Mike just wanted to get this done and over with. "Okay, what do you want me to do next?"

"You're making excellent progress today, Mr. Soletta." The telepath praised. It was simply amazing. In such a short amount of time, Mike learned how to harness his shadow telekinetic powers and to use his gravity powers. "There are a few more things I'd like to test. But for now, I want you to try increasing the gravity gradually."

Mike nodded his understanding.

Raising his arms up, the blonde focused his attention only on the crates. He felt the energy build up inside his body as a dark purple aura illuminated his body. Making a slight hand gesture, the purple tinted aura started to glow harshly. With a casual twist of his left wrist, the crates shook violently and hurtled towards the ground with surprising speed. The crates shattered violently upon impact with the floor.

The blonde waited for the small cloud of dust to settle before approaching his handiwork. The ground around the smashed crates was cracked in a spider web like design. Bending down to look at the cracked tile, Mike whistled lowly. "Okay, maybe that was a little too much."

Looking over his shoulder, he stared at the trash cans still levitating in the air. They seemed unaffected by the increased level of gravity. Reaching out to them with his hand, he could almost feel the difference in gravity. While he had drastically increased the gravity on the crates, the gravity around metal cans had remained the same.

_How can I describe it?_ He thought, alternating his gaze from the destroyed wood and the floating metal. _With the crates it felt like a pulling sensation_, _but with the cans there's no feeling at all_.

Pushing his body into standing position, the pale teen cocked his head slightly. _Is this what weightlessness feels like?_

The blonde made a dismissing gesture with his hand. The purple glow faded from his gloved hand and trash cans altogether. When the glow faded from the trash cans, they fell as the gravity around them returned. They landed with a loud clang on the tiled floor, and rolled harmlessly around him. With a small waving gesture, the metal cans once again glowed with a purple aura. The blonde snapped his fingers loudly as trash cans creaked lowly.

"Alright, let's try this again."

The pale teen reached out with his hand towards the trash cans. The purple aura shined brightly around his gloved hand. The metal started to creak even louder, the purple aura glowed faintly around the metal cans. Mike slowly curled his fingers, the metal clanked loudly as they pressed down on themselves. It wasn't long before the rusted trash cans were crushed flatter than a pancake.

"Much better." Mike smirked, satisfied with his accomplishment.

Willing the purple aura to fade from his hand and flattened metal, Mike sighed loudly in relief. The navy tiled room began to fade, taking the destroyed crates and flattened metal with it. He was once again in the empty room he started out in. The pale teen wiped the sweat off his furrowed brows. He brushed a damp lock of hair out of his eyes.

"We're getting some interesting readings on your Gravitokinesis. I'll show you after the test." The blonde teen turned his head towards the observatory. For some reason, he didn't like the way that sounded.

_Interesting readings, huh?_ He thought, reaching up wipe away the sweat trickling down his forehead. The iron weight of fatigue was starting to make itself known. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to fight the feeling of exhaustion that currently plagued him. At least the test was over now, maybe now he could back to his room and sleep some more.

"Now that we've seen what you're capable of, I think it's time to move on to the second part of the test." Charles said, typing in a few commands into the computer. "For this next part, I'm going to test how well your endurance is with some combat exercises."

"Nani?" The blonde stuttered. The color drained from his already pale face, leaving him as white as a sheet.

The Professor chuckled. "Don't worry; it's just a standard test we give to all new recruits. While this is only an exercise, please be aware that you are in a minimal amount of danger."

_Oh, you've gotta be kidding me?_ The blonde groaned.

Combat exercises? This wasn't what he had signed up for when he agreed to come here. But knowing how to defend yourself was also pretty important. Especially if the situation should ever arise. Despite taking a few self-defense classes back home, Mike really wasn't that good at hand-to-hand combat.

He didn't have much time to debate this as the room hummed to life once again. The pale teen saw a dark green sentry robot materialized a few feet away from him. Eyeing the robot warily, the machine simply stood there with its head down. The combat drone's hand twitched slightly as it came to life. Slowly lifting its head, the blonde got a clear look of the drone's face. The drone's face was completely blank, aside from a small red circle that probably served as the machine's eyes.

"Well, so much for going back to bed." Mike muttered, moving his body into a defensive stance.

(-)

Rogue walked into the crowded kitchen with a tired yawn. Making her way straight to the fridge, the southern belle looked half-heartedly at the contents in it. Too tired to care, she grabbed an apple off the top right shelf. She ignored the loud chatter around her, taking a seat on the nearest vacant bar stool. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see some of the recruits off to one side.

"Hey, have any of you seen the new guy, yet?" Jubilee asked in a hushed voice.

Rogue rolled her eyes, taking a large bite out of her apple. She had to listen to Kitty grill her for all the 'juicy' details on the new guy last night, and now this? Why did everybody have to be so damn nosy around here? Seriously?

"Well, Rahne and Jamie got a good look at him when they came in last night." Amara chimed in, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Speaking of Multiple, I haven't seen him all morning." Bobby leaned back in his chair. "Not that I'm complaining."

"Well, what did Rahne say?" Jubilee leaned in close.

The southern belle snorted, going back to her apple. Taking another bite out of it, she slid off her chair and moved to the opposite end of the kitchen. Hopefully, she wouldn't be dragged into the conversation if she kept her distant from the gossiping recruits. Sliding into the seat next to Kurt, Rogue watched him crave up the waffle on his plate.

"Morning, Rogue." Kurt greeted, stuffing a piece of waffle in his mouth.

"Morning, fuzz ball." She retorted dully.

Kurt raised an eyebrow at the southern belle. "Is something the matter, Rogue?"

"Not a damn thing, blue." Rogue grunted, taking another bite of her apple. "I'm just peachy."

The German teen shrugged, turning his attention back to his waffle. "Well, if you say so."

The southern belle propped her head on her hand, examining the remains of the apple listlessly. That annoying valley girl had almost kept her up half the night, trying to get her to spill what she knew about the new guy. She scoffed at the very thought of her roommate. The kitchen door slid open with as a tired looking Scott and Jean trudged in. Behind them was a loud, talkative Kitty following closely on their heels.

"Kitty for the last time, we don't know where he is!" Scott snapped, clearly aggravated by the petite girl's unrelenting questions.

Rogue snorted sourly. "Well, speak of the friggin devil."

"But you guys were, like, the last ones to see him last night!" Kitty whined disappointedly.

"So that automatically makes us his keepers?" Jean asked irritably, rolling her eyes. "Maybe he heard that you were looking for him, and decided to flee for his life."

The petite brunette huffed and turned sharply on her heel. She headed straight for the fridge, and began taking random things out. The two eldest teens smirked before taking their seats at the table across from Kurt and Rogue. Scott stifled a tired yawn with the back of his hand, while Jean rubbed at her throbbing temple gently.

"Well, everybody seems to be in a _good_ mood this morning." Kurt chuckled lightly. He was met with twin glares from the girls at the table.

"Shut up, Kurt." The three teens snapped in unison.

They watched the younger teens quickly file out of the dining room to get ready for the rest of the day. As the door closed, the room was quiet with the exception of the birds singing outside.

They watched the younger teens quickly file out of the dining room to get ready for the rest of the day. As the door closed, the room was quiet with the exception of the birds singing outside. Kitty took a seat on one of the bar stools. A steaming bowl of oatmeal in one hand, and a bottle of honey in the other. Kurt stuffed the last of his waffle into his mouth, and moved to go put his dirty dish away in the sink. He turned the faucet on to wash the plate in warm water, and placed it in the dishwasher.

"So, does anybody have plans for the rest of the day?" The German teen asked, breaking the silence.

"Not really." Scott answered, getting up to grab an apple off the counter. Kitty smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but Rogue glared at her darkly.

"I swear to god, Kitty." Rogue scowled, giving her roommate a murderous glance. "If the next words out of your mouth are about the new guy, I'm gonna kick ya three ways to Sunday."

The petite girl huffed angrily. "Well, excuse me for, like, wanting to make him feel welcome."

Rogue snorted rudely. "I'm sure he's looking forward to that kind of welcome." She muttered, under her breath.

"What was that?" Kitty glared at her.

"Knock it off you two." Scott groaned. The last thing he wanted to do was break up a fight, especially this early in the morning. "He'll come downstairs when he wants to. Besides, going from one time zone to another can be pretty exhausting."

The two roommates ceased their glaring with a huff. The older brunette sighed tiredly, while Jean and Kurt snickered to each other. Kitty looked around the kitchen lazily. Usually there would be at least one adult in the room at all times.

"Has anyone seen the Professor yet?"

All of them shared a look before shaking their heads. Usually the older telepath was already in the kitchen when they came down for breakfast. It was very rare to not see him already here reading the paper at the table.

"I haven't seen Ms. Munroe yet either." Rogue added, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

Scott and Jean exchanged quick glances. "They're probably still on the grounds. Jean can you che-"

A low rumbling filled the air as the kitchen began to shake violently. The sound of shattering glass filled the air as plates and other glass objects fell to the floor below. The rumbling was quickly replaced with the lows sound of an explosion going off below them. The five teens quickly shot into action, grabbing onto whatever they could get their hands on.

The harsh vibrations caused the doors of a nearby cabinet to push open, sending expensive China dishware falling to the tiled floor. Jean was the first one to response. Immediately reaching out with her telekinesis, she tried to save as many dishes as she could.

The shaking had finally ceased, leaving the room quiet once again. The red haired teen casually waved her hand, willing the dishes to move back into place. With another wave, the doors closed tightly. All of them exchanged cautious glances at one another.

"O-Okay, like, what the heck was that?" Kitty asked cautiously. She placed her bowl of, now cold, oatmeal on the counter.

"Gee, Captain Obvious. If I had to guess off the top of my head, I'd have to say an explosion." Rogue answered sarcastically. The petite brunette shot an angry glare at the southern belle, who returned it with an annoyed scowl.

"Give it a rest already, you two." Scott ordered sternly. He was already making his way out the kitchen door. "Judging from that explosion, it probably came from the Danger Room. Let's go make sure that no one was hurt!"

The four teens rushed after him, and made their way towards the nearest elevator. They ran down the adjacent hallway before reaching their destination. Kurt reached over to a small keypad, typing the controls in a certain order. The elevator doors slid open with a low hiss. After managing to cram into small elevator, Scott reached over to the elevator controls and pressed the down arrow. The elevator jerked before slowly making its descent.

"Anyone else get the feeling that it was just Mr. Logan?" Kitty suggested nervously. She leaned against the hand rail, shifting her feet nervously. The older teens shared an amused look.

The southern belle rolled her eyes. "Wouldn't surprise me, if he did."

"Trust us on this one Rogue. We've both known Logan for a while." Scott said matter-of-factly. "But I highly doubt that he could actually pull that off."

"Well, not yet at least." Jean added with a small smile.

"Didn't he just get back, from wherever he went, last night?" Kurt asked.

Jean thought for a moment before nodding. "I think he got back around eleven actually."

The elevator jerked to a stop and the doors opened as the teens walked out, but stopped short. The main fiberglass window was severely cracked in a spider web like design. Overall the window was still intact, but the extent of the damage made it impossible to see out of it. Luckily, the rest of the windows were left undamaged during the blast.

Scott was the first one to recover, and cautiously stepped forward into the control room. He looked to the side, spotting both Charles and Jamie off to the side of the control room. Charles had an expressionless look on his face as looked at something in particular.

Scott was at his mentor's side in an instant. "Professor! What happened, are you and Jamie alright?"

"We're alright, Scott." The telepath answered, turning his gaze away from the window. He offered the tall brunette a reassuring smile. "Luckily, the fiberglass managed to protect us from the explosion."

Jean and Rogue walked over to stand behind Scott, while Kitty and Kurt went to examine the damaged window. The German teen simply whistled at the damage. The petite girl eyed the glass nervously, afraid that it would shatter if she looked at it the wrong way.

Jean wordlessly walked over to Jamie and gently placed a hand on the preteen's shaking shoulders. The young teen tensed at the touch, but look over his shoulder at the tall redhead. She smiled kindly at him, and gently pulled him into her arms. The small brunette wrapped his arms around her tightly, seeking her comfort.

"It's alright, Jamie." She soothed quietly. The red head gently drew small comforting circles on his back. She slowly guided him over to the other side of the control room. Rogue shot the preteen a sympathetic glance before turning her gaze to Charles.

"So, what the heck happened down here?" Rogue asked, cutting straight to the point.

The Professor turned his attention back to the window. "We were testing Mr. Soletta's abilities to see where he currently was with his powers. However, I didn't realize just how hard he was pushing himself until it was too late."

Scott and Rogue shared a look before moving to look down into the room below them. The color drained from their faces at what they saw. The floor was littered by multiple damaged combat sentries and drones. Scott noted that some of them were slashed in various different ways. Some of them were cut down the middle, while others from the waist up.

Rogue noticed that the center of the Danger Room was left undamaged, while drones outside the center were crushed like tin cans. Ororo was currently putting out a small fire in the corner with a small rain cloud that she conjured up.

Something in the right corner of the Danger Room caught her eye. Something small was huddled closely to the wall, as if it was trying to disappear. It was a small figure dressed in a blue uniform with their legs drawn up to their chest. They were holding their head tightly in their yellow gloved hands. It was hard to tell, but it looked like they were sobbing quietly. Almost like a scared child clinging to their mother during a thunderstorm.

That someone was Michael Soletta.

* * *

8/11/12

Well, that makes the **last** of the revisions. Which means I can rest easy knowing that I can freely write chapter 6 without going back to make revisions. Well I've started writing for chapter 6, so hopefully I'll get it out soon. Thank you for your patience.

Until we meet again,

-Cyprin-san.

Translations:

**Japanese**:

**Nani?**

**何****?**

**(What?) **(Informally)


	6. Chapter 6

Greetings and salutations everyone. I am happy to announce that I have finally come back from the afterworld. While I'm aware that my last update was **forever** ago, I hope this chapter will make up for my lack of updates. I apologize for the lateness of this chapter, but I wanted to make sure that it came out the way I wanted it to.

So without further ado, please enjoy my latest chapter.

* * *

Mike sighed sadly to himself as he lay curled up on his bed. The blonde's room was completely silence, aside for a few birds that were singing by the balcony door. But the pale teen simply ignored their happy chirping. He slowly curled his body tighter until he simply laid there in a fetal position.

_I knew this was a bad idea_. He thought, letting out another sad sigh.

Ever since his disastrous Danger Room session earlier this morning, the blonde had locked himself away in his room and refused to come out. It was now 2 pm, and he still hadn't moved from his spot on the bed.

Part of him highly doubted that Professor Xavier would forgive him for nearly destroying the Danger Room. But then again, the Professor was a very understanding and caring individual. Then there was Jamie... The younger teen was probably afraid of him after what happened earlier.

"Way to go Soletta. You probably just scared off the only friend you had here." He groaned.

Heaving another sigh, the blonde pushed himself into a sitting position and leaned against the headboard. Drawing his knees up, Mike looked at his trembling hands. His hands wouldn't stop shaking. Leaning his head back against the headboard, he recalled the events from earlier this morning.

(-)

"_While this is only an exercise, please be aware that you are in a minimal amount of danger_." _Charles explained._

_The drone slowly started to move in a circle around the pale teen. Mike eyed the machine warily before copying its movements. After circle each other for a few minutes, the drone lunged forward at him with a punch. The blonde barely had enough to avoid the incoming fist as he jumped to the side. But the sentry didn't stop there as it swung around with its elbow and elbowed him hard in the jaw._

_Mike yelped in pain as he went crashing to the metallic floor. He spat the nasty coppery substance out of his mouth, sending a glare at the offending machine. Mike wiped the fresh blood off his newly split lip with his arm. The blonde moved his body back into a defensive stance and started to circle the machine. The drone copied him, which seemed to irritate the blonde even further._

_The drone lunged again, but the pale teen was ready for it this time. Quickly jumping to the side, the blonde dropped down and swung his leg out knocking the combat drone off its feet. It landed with a loud thud that echoed off the Danger Room's walls. Before he could catch his breath, the drone quickly jumped back on its feet and swung at him again. Mike ducked the first swing, but didn't take into account the second punch that came at him._

_Its fist connected with his stomach, knocking the air from his body as he fell onto his knees with a pained groan. The drone paused for a moment before pulling its fist back to begin its attacks anew. The blonde whipped his head up instantly; his normally icy blue orbs were glowing black. As the combat swung at him, a wall of dark energy quickly appear in front of the teen. Willing the wall forward, the drone was thrown backwards as the shadow wall shoved forward violently._

"_Annoying little bugger._" _Mike whispered__, trying to regain control over his breathing.__ Luckily, the machine had stayed down long enough for him to catch his breath._

_But it was only for the moment as it pushed itself back up, and resumed its offense position. The pale teen groaned lowly, why wouldn't the stupid thing just stay down? Taking a defensive position once again, he waited for the drone to make the first move. When it lung forward, Mike let it draw closer and throw up an arm to block incoming swung. The drone's metallic arm smashed up against a moderate sized shadow barrier, preventing it from making contact with the blonde's arm._

_Upon making contact, the shadows shot out and enveloped the drone's arm in an eerie black glow. The machine jerked its arm to try and pull away from the blonde, but its arm wouldn't budge._

_The blonde teen smirked slyly. _"_My turn._"

_Mike swung at the drone with his left hand, slugging it hard across the face. The drone jerked from the impact and swung its other arm to retaliate, only for it hit up against another barrier of dark energy. It tried to jerk its arm away, but wasn't fast enough as the ebony glow extended to its other arm. __The black energy continued to spread to the rest of the drone's body as it struggled in vain to break free. With a shift hand gesture, the drone went flying into the far wall and smashed roughly against it._

_Releasing his hold on the machine, he waited for it to get back up. When it didn't, he let out a small sigh. Turning around, the color drained from his already place as two more materialized a few feet away. As if one wasn't bad enough, now there was twice the annoyance. Wait. There was something different about these drones. They were a different color, and looked a lot tougher than the green drone that he just defeated._

_The two drones burst to life, quickly raising their arms and started to char- wait, were those __**lasers**__!? When the drones started to shoot at him, Mike let out a panicked cry as he dropped to the floor. Throwing a hand out in front of him, a barrier of shadows materialized in front of him. The barrage of orange lasers smashed up against the protective wall as the blonde struggled to maintain it._

"_This is insane!_"_ The blonde cried, looking for a way out._

_The only way out the room was the main doors, but they were on the other side of the drones. The only way to out of here was to force his way out. Mike looked over to the damaged robot on the other side of the room as an idea popped into his head. Throwing out one hand, he took control of the drone's prone form and threw it at the attacking drones. It smashed into one of them, allowing the blonde to focus on the other one._

_Using what was left of the shadow barrier, Mike threw his hand forward. The wall morphed into a clawed hand and shot out towards its target, grabbing it in a vice like grip. Clenching his hand into a fist, the ebony shadows squeezed the poor drone until it resembled a crushed can. Tossing the now motionless drone aside, he turned his attention to the remaining one._

_It had thrown off the limp drone, and was running at him with surprising speed. It took a few swings at the blonde, who avoided them with some difficulty. Mike managed to put some distance between them for the moment. These stupid drones were merciless. They didn't even give him enough time to catch his breath._

_The soulless machine charged him again, but Mike was ready for it. Dark energy burst from his hands as it drew closer. Just as the drone was close enough to him, Mike released the energy without hesitation. Making a quick slash gesture with his hand, a ribbon of black energy shot off Mike's finger tips and slashed through his attacker's waist. The drone jerked to a stop as its upper body slid off its waist. The rest of its body soon joined it as the bifurcated machine collapsed in a heap._

_This is getting ridiculous. Mike thought, wiping some sweat off his furrowed brows._

_Out of the corner of his eye, he could see yet another drone materializing on the other side of the room. The blonde glared at it as the machine slowly started to walk. Raising its arm, the drone charged its laser before firing it off. Throwing his hands out in front of him, Mike willed the shadows to form a dark wall in front of him. The pale bursts of energy smashed harmless against the shield._

_Mike took a step forward, preparing himself to push the shield outwards at his attacker, but felt something roughly grab the back of his neck. A second drone had materialized behind him, and was currently gripping the back of his neck in a vice grip. The shadow barrier in front of him quickly dissolved as the blonde's hands quickly flew to his neck._

_Mike let out a strangled cry as the drone threw him to the side. The blonde's back landed hard on the cold, steel ground. Letting out a pained groan, he simply laid there in a daze. Slowly cracking an eye open, he saw the same drone lunging at him. With a panicked cry, Mike threw a hand out at his attacker and sent a burst of black energy that morphed into a clawed hand._

_The shadow hand gripped onto the machine, and smashed it hard into the main window of the observatory. It left a moderate sized spider web like crack on the smooth surface of the glass. The observatory occupants jumped in surprise at the impact, watching the now limp machine fall to the ground below. By now more combat drones were starting to material by twos around the Danger Room._

_Pushing himself to stand on wobbly knees, Mike looked around at the slowly growing number of drones surrounding him. Clearly this was overkill!_

"_There's way too many._" _The blonde panted. Moving his body into a defensive position, he prepared himself as a small group of drones began their advance._

_While he was busy trying to fend off his attackers, Ororo was frantically moving around the control room. It didn't take a genius to realize that the safety protocols had failed to activate. Normally, the combat sentry wouldn't act this rough unless the individual was an intruder. She furiously typed commands into the main computer, but the system didn't seem to register the desired commands._

"_I can't access safety protocols! I'm getting him out of there!_"_ The weather witch turned sharply on her heels, and made a beeline for the elevator._

"_Wait!_" _Charles ordered, without taking his eyes off the blonde teen below._

_The pale teen managed to block yet another blow with a shadow barrier, but he was beginning to show signs of weakening. He could feel the fear slowly rising from the pit of his stomach. No matter how many he took down, two more would always take their place. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see yet another drone swung its fist at him. The pale teen barely had enough time to create a barrier between them. However, unlike the last few times, the drone's fist actually made a large crack in the dark wall. But it didn't stop there. _

_Now on the offensive, the combat sentry continued to swing at the teen as he stumbled backwards. Mike continued to create shield after shield, but the drone continued to shatter them easily. By now, the slowly rising bubble of fear had turned into full on terror. The pale teen continued to back way in fear until he felt something hit against the back of his foot._

_Letting out a small cry, the blonde fall backwards and landed on his butt with an inaudible thump. He looked in front of him see that he had tripped over the bifurcated drone from earlier. The sound of heavy footsteps brought his attention back to the incoming combat drones. Pushing himself to stand again, Mike continued to back away as the machines continued their advance._

"_S-s-stop. G-Get away from m-me!_" _The pale teen whispered fearfully._

_That's when all __**hell**__ broke loose. The blonde shivered violently as energy started to surge through his trembling form. Black bolts of dark energy started to crackle around the teen. His body was outline in an eerie purple glow. His shadow shot outwards at the attack drones, slashing through them like a hot knife through butter. Sparks and mechanical limbs were sent flying as the tendril like shadows torn the drones apart viciously._

_But it didn't stop there. As soon as the drones were dismembered, the same eerie glow around the pale teen's form illuminated the dismembered remains. The dark colored metal gave off a very low creaking noise. Without warning, the mechanical limbs were violently flattened by the increased levels of gravity._

_Mike let out a pained cry as pain shot through his head. The pale glow that illuminated his body steadily started to grow darker until it was a dark shade of purple. Falling to his knees, the pale teen gripped his head tightly and squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Mike whimpered weakly as the pain continued to grow worse with every passing second. As he cradled his throbbing head, the half-Italian half Japanese teen's hair was slowly changing from its usual pale yellow to an ebony black color._

_The dark purple aura around his body started to glow brightly as he was slowly lifted off his feet. The blonde was left suspended in the air as the shadows started to form a protective sphere around him. It gave off an eerie dark purple glow._

"_P-Professor, what's happening to him?_" _The small preteen cried fearfully._

"_I was afraid this might happen._" _Charles whispered. He eyed the dark sphere cautiously. It gave off small bursts of dark energy as the drone tried attacking it with their lasers. For the most part, the lasers smashed harmless against the dark shield. _"_He can't control all that power in his current state. The intense feelings of fear are clouding his mind. If he lashes out now, it could be disastrous._"

_The pale teen looked around the small sphere fearfully. It seemed to be growing smaller by the minute, making it increasingly difficult for him to breathe properly. Wrapping his arms around his trembling form, Mike desperately tried to take a deep breath, but couldn't._

_Michael, can you hear me?_

_The young teen flinched at the voice intruding in his mind. He turned his head hesitantly to right to the observatory. It was the Professor. Mike nodded his head timidly._

_You have to try, and calm down. I want you to try and focus on my voice. Do you think you can do that? Charles instructed calmly. Mike bit his lip before nodding slowly._

_The pale teen tried to do as he was told, but a searing pain shot through his head. Letting out a sharp cry of pain, Mike gripped his pulsing head tightly. Outside the sphere, the energy discharges were growing far more frequent and violent. A bolt of dark energy shot off the surface of the sphere and struck the nearest drone. It convulsed violently before exploding a few seconds later._

"_I-I can't do it!_"_ Mike cried weakly._

_The pain steadily got worse as the ebony haired teen clenched his eyes shut and let out an agonizing scream. The sphere shook violently, and started to crack before finally shattering with a violent explosion._

_Then everything went blank._

(-)

The blonde shuddered at the memory, and laid his forehead on his knees. When he finally came to, he found himself sobbing in a nearby corner. Mike reached up to run a shaky hand through his pale hair. It had changed back to its normal pale blonde color sometime while he was unconscious.

Sighing tiredly, Mike looked down at his unclenched hands blankly. The bruises on the right side of his face and left knuckle were already turning a dark bluish purple. His lip was still swollen; thankfully the pain had finally subsided into a very dull aching. He winced and let out a small hiss of pain when he slowly clenched his bruised hand. Gently willing his hand to unclench and relax, the blonde gently laid his head back against the headboard.

"I really messed up." He sighed tiredly.

He closed his tired eyes slowly, hoping to fall into a dreamless sleep. Just as he was about to welcome the comforting embrace of sleep, a soft knocking at his door pulled him back into the waking world. Mike reluctantly opened his tired icy orbs and looked to the door. He swung his legs over the edge of bed, and made his way to the door. Fumbling with the lock, the blonde unlocked the door and opened it just enough so he look out into the hall.

He visibly relaxed when he saw Ororo waiting on the other side of the door. The weather witch offered a small smile as he opened the door wider. She sent him a look of sympathy as she eyed the bruise on his face.

"Hello Michael." She greeted, offering him a smile.

Mike simply returned the smile. "U-uh, hello Ms. Munroe, what can I do for?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to join me outside for a little bit. I'm sure the fresh air will do you some good." Ororo suggested.

The pale teen stopped to think for a moment. Maybe it could do him some good to get out of his room for a little while. "W-Well, maybe for a little bit."

Closing the door behind him, the half-Italian half-Japanese teen followed behind Ororo wordlessly. They walked down the stairs of the foyer and took one of many hallways on the first floor. The blonde studied the white haired woman silently as they continued walking down the hall. He had noticed that the white haired woman gave off a motherly air.

In a way, she reminded him a lot of his own mother back home. The pale teen felt his face heat up at the thought, and quickly glanced away before she caught him staring. The weather witch led him outside to a nearby lawn table and chairs. She motioned for him to take the seat across from hers, which he did timidly.

Mike played with the hem of his dark blue long sleeve shirt nervously. "L-Listen about earlier-"

"Let me just stop you right there, Michael. If it's about what happened in the Danger Room, you don't have to apologize." Ororo retorted, offering him a knowing smile. The pale teen felt himself blush at her motherly smile, and forced his eyes to look elsewhere. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"But it's still my fault that the Danger Room got damaged." Mike muttered, avoiding her gaze. The weather witch reached out and gently took the blonde's unbruised hand in her own, not missing how he winced at the physical contact.

"You shouldn't blame yourself, child." The white haired woman said, giving his hand a gently squeeze. "The main reason we use the Danger Room is so new mutants can experiment with their powers in an enclosed environment. Sometimes it does result in equipment being damaged."

Mike let her words sink in, but they didn't offer him much comfort. The two sat there in silence for the longest time. He shifted nervously in his seat. The pale teen could still picture the events that had transpired after he left the Danger Room.

(-)

_Mike slowly made his way out of the Danger Room entrance. He was still shaken up by the destruction that he unintentionally caused. The sound of foot steps and electric wheelchair drew him out of his stupor. He saw a few familiar faces in the small crowd that coming towards him. Mike recognized some of them, but he saw two newcomers walking with them. The blonde noticed that Jamie wasn't them, and couldn't help but feel hurt by this. Then again, he wouldn't blame the preteen after what just happened._

"_Are you all right, Michael?_"_ Charles asked, stopping his wheelchair a few feet in front the pale teen._

_The blonde nodded timidly._ "_Y-Yeah, I'm a-alright._"

"_What the hell happened in there?_" _Scott asked._

_Mike flinched. He shifted nervously, avoiding the groups' gaze as he stared at his feet. _"_I-I don't k-know. I-I s-sort of lost control in there._"

"_We're just glad that you're okay._"_ Jean said, taking a step towards him. To her surprise, the pale teen took a step back almost fearfully. _"_Mike?_"

_The blonde didn't answer her as he forced himself to look away from her. After a moment of debating with himself mentally, he slowly turned his gaze to look at Charles. _"_P-Professor Xavier, I'm really sorry about destroying the Danger Room._"

"_Not to worry, my child. Like Jean said, we're glad that you weren't seriously hurt._"_ Charles replied, giving the blonde a small smile. _"_This sort of thing happens all the time, so you shouldn't worry about it. Besides, I think this will give Hank and Forge a chance to make some modifications to the Danger Room._"

"_Well, I've had enough._" _Mike said, glaring down at his feet. _"_I'm never setting foot in the Danger Room again._"

_Charles frowned at the blonde's words. The half Italian half Japanese teen had lost control once, and now he was ready to give up without a second thought._

"_Michael, I understand that this was a really trying experience for you, but you have to try again at some point._" _The telepath retorted, hoping that he was getting through to the teen. _"_It's the only way you'll learn to control your powers._"

"_Don't you get it?_"_ Mike snapped, letting out an exasperated sigh. _"_I won't have to learn about them if I __**never**__ use them again!_"

"_That wouldn't be a wise course of action._" _Charles advised, but the blonde wasn't convinced by his words. Sighing to himself, the telepath gave Mike a small smile. _"_Michael, I encourage you to take some time off and get some rest. When you feel better, I want you to come back to the Danger Room and give it another try._"

_Mike shifted nervously as he lowered his gaze to the ground. _"_I-I don't know, Professor. Give me some time to think about it._"

(-)

Mike sighed tiredly to himself. He finally lifted his gaze to look at the weather witch. She gave him a small sympathetic smile.

"The Professor told me to take some time off and think about where I should go from here." The blonde sighed. He stopped to think for a moment. God, when did he become such a pessimist? He sent the white haired woman a pleading look. "But to be honest, I don't know what to do. Tell me what I should do, please?"

Ororo smiled sadly at him.

"You and I both know that's only something you can answer for yourself." Ororo said, giving the blonde's hand a reassuring squeeze. "But it will take some time."

The pale teen could feel his eyes starting to well up, but willed the unshed tears not to fall. His powers were fueled by his emotion, and he didn't want another repeat of what happened earlier. Biting his lip, Mike steeled himself and tried to remain composed.

Taking a few deep breaths, the blonde calmed down and blinked back the unshed tears.

"H-How will I know when it's time?" He asked timidly.

The weather witch merely smiled. "Trust me, you'll know."

Mike looked at dark skinned woman with a new sense of respect and admiration. He was right in his earlier assumption about her giving off a motherly aura. The pale teen couldn't really describe it, but he felt safe around her. The best way he could describe was like how a small child felt around its mother.

"T-These powers—they scare me." He whispered before he could stop himself.

The pale teen felt his face heat up in embarrassment. He risked a glance to look at the weather witch, and was taken aback by the motherly smile she gave him.

"I know, child. Believe me; I know how you feel and what you're going through." The weather witch retorted, letting go of his pale hand and slowly stood up from her chair.

Mike watched her as she moved around the table until she was kneeling in front of him. She gently placed a hand on his shoulders, giving it a small squeeze. The blonde felt the tears well up in his eyes again, and went brush them away before they could fall. But Ororo used her free hand to gently take hold of his wrist, and shook her head.

"It's okay." She said soothingly. "It's okay to cry, Michael."

"I-I..."

"It's not a sign of weakness to cry, child. You don't have to bottle everything up; you have to let it out." The white haired woman smiled sadly.

The blonde let her words sink in. The floodgates burst open as tears started to stream down his pale face. Mike tried in vain to hold back the small sob, but it still got out. Ororo slowly pulled the teen up from his seat and gently wrapped her arms around him. She hugged him tightly and gently ran a hand through the teen's pale locks.

The weather witch felt him stiffen in her arms before burying his face in her shoulder. She felt the teen's tears slowly soaking into her shirt, but she didn't mind. Ororo made small soothing sounds, drawing slow soothing circles on the trembling teen's back.

"Shh, it's alright. Just let it all out." She whispered, rubbing Mike's back.

While she was comforting the teen, Ororo was vaguely aware that someone was watching. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Charles watching them from behind the glass door. She gave him a look of acknowledgment with her eyes before returning her attention to the sobbing teen.

Knowing that the blonde was in capable hands, the telepath turned to leave. Taking one last look at the two outside, he smiled to himself before making his way down the hall.

* * *

**Crying isn't showing weakness, its showing you've been strong for too long.** -Author unknown.

* * *

The quote in this chapter was in dedication to my college's National Suicide Awareness and Prevention week. If you have a friend or know someone that is hurting, don't sit back and do nothing. You can make a difference by just being there for them and let them know you care. The most important thing you can do is **Be a Friend**. Every little thing **can** make a difference.

_Author's comments_: Well, there you have it everyone my latest chapter! Yes I admit that it is a bit shorter than my other chapters, but I wanted to try and experiment with it. I still hope that you enjoyed reading it. Any thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Was this chapter any good? I'm curious to see how I did with this one.

To be completely honest with you all, this was more a filler than an actual chapter. I had to rewrite this chapter like four different times just to get it the way I wanted. If you catch any mistakes or something I left out, please let me know so I can make corrections!

While I was writing this, I thought to myself how can I get people to read more? So I've decided that the next chapter will only be posted if people really want it. All you have to do is click that little thing at the bottom of the screen.

Until we meet again fellow readers,

-Cyprin-san.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello again my fellow readers, I'm happy to present the next chapter of the Fallen.

I'd like to say thank you to the people that reviewed: **azure blue espeon, Tmntfreak1996, RAZzEN, Jordan**and all the people that don't have a account. It's all thanks to you guys that helped me decide to keep this story afloat! You guys rock! I hope you all enjoy my latest chapter! :)**  
**

* * *

Rogue glanced half-heartedly through her book from her spot on the couch. After this morning's Danger Room's disaster, the place was abuzz with gossip courtesy of the Institute's resident valley girl. The southern belle rolled her eyes at the mere thought of her petite roommate. It was obvious that Kitty couldn't take a hint and keep her big mouth shut.

_If only it were that easy_. She groaned, shaking her head.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jubilee and Amara in the corner talking in hushed tones about something. The southern belle had a pretty good idea about what they were yakking about to each other.

_Gossip mongers. _Rogue snorted disdainfully.

Turning her attention back to her book, the southern brunette flipped the page and skimmed the words slowly. With the current gossip aside, today was just another normal day here in X-Land. 'X-Land'. Rogue rolled her eyes at the ridiculous word that Kurt came up with. Honestly, what kind of word was X-Land? It sounded like an Alice in Wonderland rip off, for Pete's sake.

She closed her book with a jaded sigh, and pushed herself off the tan couch. The brunette teen needed to find a quiet place to get away from all this annoying gossip. She walked past the two gossiping teens wordlessly, closing the lounge door behind her. Making her way into the large foyer, the southern teen could see Bobby and Sam off to the side. The two teens looked like they were arguing about something. Judging by the way Bobby was flailing his arms around, it was probably over something stupid.

Rogue turned attention to the stairs as she continued on her way to find a quiet place to finish her book. She walked past Jean and Scott, who were making their way down the steps. The southern belle gave them a wordless greeting when Scott nodded to her. Stopping in front of the door that led into the library, Rogue reached out to grab the door handle when the faint sound of a piano caught her ear.

She stopped to listen to the soft melody for a moment. Not a lot of people here knew how to play the piano, so who was playing it? She could already rule out Jean, just having passed her and Scott on the stairs. Normally, she wouldn't have given it a second thought, but a part of her needed a distraction from all the gossip that was currently going on.

Deciding to find the source of the faint music, Rogue continued down the hall until she reached the doors leading to the second floor lounge. This was the only room in the entire Institute that had a grand piano in it. She noted that whoever was playing the piano must have purposely left the door open a crack. Curiosity got the better of her as she moved closer to the door to peek inside.

The southern belle glanced over to the right side of the room where the piano was set up. The mysterious piano player's back was facing her as their dark blue long sleeve covered arms moved fluidly across the keyboard. Now that she was closer to the source, Rogue noted how the soft melody sounded mysterious, and yet almost sad. If she listened closely, she could almost hear a faint humming sound coming from inside the room.

"Shining constellations pierce through the night sky." A voice whispered.

Rogue almost jumped, almost, as the mysterious player continued to play the haunting melody. The voice sounded both sad, and at the same time almost devoid of any emotion.

"My heart is endlessly lost in the darkness," A humorless chuckle this time. "Ah, wandering."

That's when she realized that the voice belonged to the mysterious piano player. She pushed the door open a little wider to get a better look, and winced to herself when the old door hinges squeaked lowly. Quickly looking over to the piano, she almost sighed in relief when she noticed that the person hadn't notice that they had company. They continued to play like nothing was happening around them. Rogue squinted to get a better look at the person, but the bright sunlight coming from a nearby window prevented her from getting a better look at them.

"...Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's rude to eavesdrop?" The mysterious player asked suddenly, causing to Rogue to jump in surprise. Hitting one final key, the pianist ended the song prematurely and turned their head to the door.

It was then that Rogue got a good look at the mysterious piano player behind the sad melody. His pale locks and skin were illuminated in the sun's golden rays, giving him an unnatural glow to his thin form.

"...Well? Are you just going to stand there all day, or are you going to come inside." Michael stated more than asked. He sounded genuinely curious, rather than sounding annoyed that someone was spying on his private piano session.

The southern teen sighed; there was no use in trying to stay hidden now. She entered the room as the blonde turned on the stool to look at his mysterious onlooker. Although he didn't show it, the pale teen was surprised to see that the southern belle was the one spying on him.

"Well, this is a surprise." The blonde said, hiding his amusement. "I was half-expect that oddball valley girl to be the one spying on me."

Rogue scoffed in irritation. "Yeah, she's a few screws short of something alright. At least you don't have to share a room with her."

Mike shuddered at the thought. He didn't even know the petite girl yet, and he already felt the need to avoid her at all costs. He did sympathize with the southern teen. The two girls seemed like two completely _different_ people, personality **and** clothes wise anyways.

"...So, what brings you by?" Mike asked, turning back to close the lid over the keyboard.

"I've been trying to find a quiet place where I can read in peace." Rogue answered matter-of-factly. She lifted her book up to emphasis her point. "Kinda hard when the entire Institute is abuzz with annoying gossip."

The blonde teen's eyebrow raised at that.

"Gossip, you don't say." He retorted sarcastically. Rogue snorted at Mike, who didn't bother to hide his amusement this time around.

"Yeah, and you're in the center of it all."

"Is that so?" Mike rolled his eyes and scoffed aloud to himself, he was here for a day and people were already talking about him. The pale teen didn't know whether to be irritated or worry about what was being said about him behind his back.

"Well, you did manage to destroy the Danger Room." Rogue retorted matter-of-factly.

The blonde groaned. "Ugh. Don't remind me, I'm already on thin ice as it is."

"Is that why you're up here hiding in the first place?" Rogue asked the blonde indifferently.

"In a way, yes." The pale teen answered, turning to face the piano again. "Normally, I find that playing piano helps me relax, especially after all the crap that's happened."

Rogue took a moment to look at the biracial teen in front of him. Today he was dressed in primarily dark colors, mostly ranging from blues and blacks. The dark blue long shirt he was currently wearing looked good with his pale skin. He had on a pair of black jeans, black socks, and a pair of black and white checkered vans. The outfit suited him very well. But what really caught her attention was the bluish purple bruise that marred his pale skin.

Mike raised an eyebrow at her. "...Is there something wrong?"

"U-uh, it's nothing." Rogue retorted, looking away from the pale teen. Mike reached up and gently touched the bruise on his cheek. He winced when his fingertips made contact with it.

"Oh, this little thing." The blonde gently removed his hand from the bruise. Rogue walked closer to get a better look at it, not missing how Mike shifted slightly as she came closer.

"That's quite the shiner you've got there." Rogue whistled.

"It really only hurts when you touch it." Mike answered, moving to sit back on the piano stool.

The southern belle nodded wordlessly. She moved over to the closest armchair near the piano. The two teens sat there in silence, neither of them speaking with one another. A minute went past before Mike finally broke the awkward silence.

"So, uh, how long have you been at the Institute?" The blonde asked.

"Too long." Rogue retorted sarcastically.

Mike raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound like this place is some kinda prison or something."

"I guess you could call it that."

The blonde teen gave Rogue a look of understanding before turning back to the piano and lifted the lid for the keyboard. He played a few notes with his right hand.

"If you don't mind my asking, what song were you playing earlier?" Rogue asked, listening to Mike play one handed.

"Kagayaku Seiza." The blonde answered, letting his hand dance across the keys. "It's Japanese for Shining Constellations. It's kinda a personal favorite of mine."

He continued to play with one hand, getting lost in the soft melody of the piano. Even one handed, the song still retained the sad and mysterious melody it had when he played with both hands. Mike moved his left hand to join his right on the keyboard. The melody started to pick up as Mike started to play faster.

"Your silent lips reflect the stars." The blonde whispered, closing his eyes as he played. "Life flows on, and all existence is, ah, an illusion."

Rogue continued to watch Mike play. There was something about the pale teen that the southern belle didn't quite understand. How could someone like him single-handedly destroy the Danger Room on his first try? Just what kind of powers did he have to cause that level of damage? It just didn't make any sense.

"You're staring again."

Rogue jumped for what seemed like the tenth time today. The blonde had just finished playing, and was now standing in front of her. He cocked his head to the side, his face betrayed no emotion.

"Would you quit doing that?" Rogue scowled angrily.

"Sorry, old habits die hard." Mike retorted. He moved to sit in the armchair opposite of Rogue. "So, what book are you reading there Ms.-? You'll have to forgive me; I'm really bad with names. I barely remember my own name sometimes."

Rogue rolled her eyes, handing her latest book to Mike. "Rogue, and take a look for yourself."

"Edgar Allan Poe, huh?" The pale teen smirked. "A rather dark and creepy book choice, but the guy really knew how to paint a picture in your head. I'm glad that I'm not the only one that appreciates his work."

"Which story is your favorite?" Rogue found herself asking before she could stop herself. What was with her today? Normally she wasn't this talkative with anyone.

Mike thought for a moment, trying to think of one. He had read a lot of Poe's work some time ago; trying to narrow it down to just one was pretty hard.

"I would have to say The Raven, for sure." Mike answered.

Rogue smirked at that. "It's a little repetitive, but probably one of Poe's best works."

They spent the next twenty minutes discussing which books they've read and which ones that shouldn't even be consider literature. The bulk of the conversation was spent on how much they both hated the Twilight Series. What real vampire sparkles in the sunlight, seriously? They _burn_ in sunlight, not sparkle for Pete's sake!

"I just don't understand why people like it." Mike said, leaning back in his chair.

"That makes two of us." Rogue retorted.

(-)

"You're kidding, right?" Logan scoffed, raising an eyebrow.

All of the adults, plus Scott, Jean and Forge, were all gathered in Charles' office on the first floor. After retelling the events of this morning's Danger Room fiasco, they were deciding on where they should go from there. Hank and Forge were already busy with thinking of ways to improve the Danger Room after repairing the damage.

"Yes Logan, why would I make this up?" Charles stated, suppressing a smirk.

Scott and Jean chuckled to each other, but quickly stopped when the gruff Canadian shot them a steely glare.

"Getting back to the matter at hand," Ororo said, clearing her throat. "What are we going to do about this?"

Charles sighed, recalling the blonde's words from earlier. "It's ultimately Michael's choice. Regardless if we agree with it or not, we must still respect his decision."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but the idea of just waiting for a ticking time bomb to go off sounds pretty ridiculous if you ask me," Logan snorted, crossing his arms. "Who's to say that the kid won't blow up the entire institute because of one or two wild mood swings?"

Everyone in the room shot him a look. The short man snorted in response. The room fell into uncomfortable silence. After a moment of silence, Scott was the one to break it.

"The question is what to do now?" Scott asked.

Charles sighed in defeat. "I'm afraid all we can do is wait, see what develops."

"If you all just want to sit here and twiddle your thumbs, be my guest," Logan snorted, pushing himself off the wall and made a beeline for the door. "But I'm not just going to sit around and wait for something to happen."

"Logan, where are you going?" Ororo asked, watching the short Canadian walk past her.

"Out." He answered, without looking back.

The door closed with a small slam, plunging the room into silence once more. Everyone in the room shared a look before shaking their heads at Logan's exit. This was just a typical Logan thing to do. The man himself was a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma to be put it bluntly.

"Putting Logan's usual lone wolf attitude aside, where is mister Soletta?" Hank said, putting down the blueprints that he was currently working on.

"Last time I checked, he should still be in the second floor lounge." Ororo replied.

"And he's not alone." Charles added.

Everyone turned their attention to him, waiting for him to elaborate. The wheelchair bound telepath merely smiled knowingly to himself. He had felt Rogue's familiar presence in the same room as the blonde's. Normally he didn't like to spy on his students, but this time he made a small exception. Michael's behavior after this morning's Danger Room disaster worried him. He seemed so adamant against the idea of using his powers again.

"Well Charles, who is it?" Hank inquired, passing the finished copy of the blueprints for Forge to look at. The young builder took it eagerly, scanning each and every detail thoroughly.

"It's Rogue." Jean supplied finally. Everyone turned to look at her in surprise, in Scott's case total disbelief.

"Rogue? Jean, are you sure it's not somebody else instead?" Scott asked incredulously.

"Yes Scott, Jean is telling the truth." Charles retorted, clearly amused by the brunette's skepticism. "I was a little surprised myself, but I guess kindred spirits are easily drawn to one another."

Scott and Forge shared a confused look, while Hank and Ororo merely smiled at each another.

"I'm sure that those two will be good for one another." Ororo mused, forming a small raincloud to water the plants in the room. "It'll give them both a chance to socialize a little."

Scott snorted lightly. "This is Rogue we're taking about, Storm."

"Now, now Scott." Jean scolded lightly. "We shouldn't be too quick to judge either of them."

All of the adults nodded in agreement. From what they knew about the blonde so far, he was very quiet and mostly kept to himself. Most people would immediately assume that both of the qualities made someone seem impersonal and aloof. But in a way, that was probably the best way to describe the blonde's personality. He seemed guarded in more ways than one. However, there were those moments where that protective wall would crack. But those moments were quite infrequent and didn't last very long.

In a way, Rogue was the same way with most people. She projected a 'don't screw with me, or else' aura about her. Her use of sarcasm, snarky deadpan remarks was proof of that. The very nature of her powers made her a very guarded person. The southern belle always kept herself at a distance from everyone, never letting herself get close to someone without fear of hurting them.

_Mike and Rogue are so much alike in so many ways_. Charles thought sadly.

(-)

"Sounds to me like your roommate has a classic case of a love-bipolar." The blonde rolled his eyes. The two teens spent the last ten minutes talking about various topics and Rogue's boy crazy roommate.

Rogue snorted loudly.

"Tch, classic doesn't even _begin _to describe it." She retorted.

Mike chuckled quietly to himself. Rogue was rather _descriptive_ about some of the things that Kitty did to annoy her and what she wanted to do in retaliation. Some of it was overly ridiculous and silly, but he seemed to agree with most of it. The bulk of it seemed rather excessively violent to say the least.

"She sounds like a real barrel of sunshine." Mike said sarcastically.

"Ugh, can we please stop talking about her now? I'm getting a migraine just thinking about her." Rogue snapped.

The pale teen held his hands up in defeat. He knew when and when not to pick his fights, and this was one of them.

"So, aside from reading dark literature, what else do you do for fun around here?" Mike asked, switching gears.

Rogue cocked an eyebrow. "Depends on what you mean by 'fun'."

"Touché."

The blonde hummed a quiet tune under his breath. The southern belle almost had to strain her ears to hear it. It almost sounded like Adele's Set Fire to the Rain. Rogue didn't peg the blonde as an Adele fan. Then again, she didn't know that much about the blonde's tastes in music. The only thing she had to go on was that he was humming Adele's latest song under his breath. Actually, now that she stopped to think about it, Mike had a good singing voice.

"You sure like to sing don't cha?" Rogue said before she could stop herself.

Mike cocked an eyebrow at the remark. He must have started humming under his breath without realizing it. He chuckled humorlessly.

"Aside from playing violin and piano, it's the only thing I'm good at."

Although it was subtle, the southern belle picked up on the bitterness in his voice. She must have struck a nerve without meaning to. Rogue saw a brief flash of anger behind the blonde's icy blue orbs, but it was gone in an instant. The blonde's emotionless mask had quickly resurfaced.

"So, what's your mutant power, Rogue." He stated more than asked.

The southern belle was almost caught off guard by the pale teen's biting tone. One moment he was calm and composed, and the next he was cold and impersonal. These mood swings were almost as bad as Kitty's on most days, and that's saying something. Steeling herself, she sent an equally frigid glare to match the blonde's icy tone.

"Why should I tell you?" She countered frigidly. "Why don't you tell me _yours_?"

Mike smirked almost smugly at her. "Sorry, but I asked you _first_."

"Well, tough luck blondie, cause I'm not telling you." Rogue retorted with a smirk of her own.

She didn't expect the half Italian half Japanese teen to let out a small chuckle at her smart ass remark. The southern belle didn't know what to make of him anymore. This guy was such a walking contradiction. She watched him swipe an imaginary tear from his right eye.

"I can tell you right now that we're going to get along just fine." He smirked, pushing himself to stand up.

He reached out a hand to the southern goth. The brunette started at it for a few moments before reaching up to shake it.

"Just try to stay out of my way, and we won't have any problems with one another." Rogue said retracting her gloved hand from the blonde.

The smirk never left his pale lips. "I'll try to remember that, and the same to you, _Rogue_."

* * *

There you have it everyone, chapter seven has finally been completely! I'm really, really, really, REALLY sorry for the very long wait. Life of a college student is just full of ups and downs, but you learn to adapt to the bulk of it.

I know this chapter is a little on the short side, but I originally intended for this and previous chapter to be just a filler to see where I'm at in the story. I made some major revisions to my plans for future chapters. I also wanted to say this right now:

This is NOT a RoguexOC story.

I just wanted to make that clear for some of my readers. Although Rogue is one of my all-time favorite X-Men characters, I don't believe in putting my characters in romantic relationships with already established characters and their comic book love interests. Call me old fashion and unoriginal for that, but that's how I see it.

Please let me know what you think of this story! I want to hear YOUR opinions on this! If there's anything at all that I missed or forgot to add, like a typo or missing a word: Please, please, PLEASE let me know so I can go back and fix it!

Feel free to write me a review and let your opinions be heard! Constructive criticism is welcome, but please don't flame me. Until we meet again my fellow readers and writers!

-Cyprin-san.


End file.
